Dickinson fell 1-0 to McDaniel in a very close, very well played game. 

Coach Zingman reflected on the game, “it was a great game between two strong teams and it could’ve gone either way.”

McDaniel came to Dickinson Park raging hot after winning 11 straight to start the year. They had scored 23 goals and only conceded one. Dickinson, however, halted McDaniel’s momentum, especially in the first half. Under any circumstances, Dickinson’s half was really impressive. It was particularly impressive that Dickinson controlled the play against the number one team in the conference, especially in the first half. First halves have been a real issue for the Red Devils.

Zingman said, “it’s definitely something we have talked about. We’ve had strong second halves, but we know we have to start strong and put ourselves in a good position for the very beginning.”

Dickinson put themselves in a good position in the first half. Their big chance came from captain and striker, Meg Tate. Tate received the ball with her back towards the goal. With her left foot, Tate attempted to curl the ball into the upper left corner of the goal. Although it was from her weaker foot, the curling shot seemed almost perfectly destined to nestle into the corner of the net. McDaniel goalkeeper Katherine Cartsensen, however, made an unbelievable diving save to deny Tate the great goal. A great shot matched by a great save.

Unfortunately for the Dickinson women, McDaniel came out as a whole different team in the second half. They looked lively on the ball and started pressuring Dickinson’s back line a lot more. This led to the set piece total growing for McDaniel. Set pieces are one of the strengths for McDaniel and have scored many goals with them.  However, in this game, they tried multiple tactics on different set piece opportunities but just could not get anything going. 

“I was really pleased with our set piece defense,” said Zingman. “We knew it was something McDaniel does well so I was really happy with the strong set piece defense all game.”

The lone goal of the game came from McDaniel midfielder, Maddie Schwartz. Schwartz found herself in loads of space following some strong hold up play from McDaniel striker Hannah Schepers. From way outside the box, Schwartz decided to have a go. She curled it perfectly into the top corner. Dickinson goalie Sophia Kavulich did all she could and even got a bit of her hand on it, but was not able to keep it out. 

Zingman said, “it was a great shot. I watched it again today and it was just a great shot from long distance. It looked great in real time and again on video.”

Dickinson continued to fight after the goal but was not able to get any concrete chances at goal. 

Zingman said, “there’s a reason McDaniel is undefeated. They got a really big play by a really strong player, and that’s what great teams do in the close ones. They also got a great big save from their goalie.”

Dickinson can take a lot of positives from this game. First of all, just hanging tough with such a good team is a big plus by itself. Dickinson also did a great job of spreading the ball around and moving the ball quickly. When they did that, they were dangerous. If the Dickinson women can continue to do what they did in their upcoming games, they will have a lot of success in the attack.