Through the first month of the current season, the St. Mary’s College of Maryland women’s soccer team has enjoyed ample success and its record through this point is a reflection of the team’s versatility and unselfish roles and partly the result of one local product.
Saturday afternoon in the Seahawks’ 1-0 win over visiting Elizabethtown College, St. Mary’s College (7-1-1) got the lone goal of the contest 10 minutes into the game from defender Ashyn Bonner and the hosts denied Elizabethtown the equalizer.
It was yet another gritty performance from the Seahawks, who will return to action this Saturday, Sept. 28, when they open United East Conference play at Wilson.
“It’s definitely been a great start to the season, but like we know it’s not how you start it’s how you finish that matters,” St. Mary’s coach Peter Krech said. “We have number of players who con tribute to our attack and I’m proud of the fact that we’ve scored in every game this season. Ashyn is not only one of our best defenders but her left-footed kick gives teams trouble.”
Calvert High School graduate Alyssa McLane has been among the team’s most prolific goal scorers this fall and fellow Calvert alum Flora Katz-Starr has been among its genuine senior leaders. On Saturday afternoon McLane may have been denied another goal while just missing the target on two occasions in the second half, but Katz-Starr was pleased with the overall effort.
“I think this team just has a different vibe than the previous teams that I’ve played on here,” said Katz-Starr, who needed only one math course to graduate last spring but opted to save it for the fall semester to have one more chance to play for the Seahawks. “There just seems to be a lot more chemistry and camaraderie with this team this year.”
Bonner is generally assigned the tasks of clearing the ball away from her keepers on defense, but Saturday afternoon she found herself in a dual role.
Less than 10 minutes into the contest, with the Seahawks on the attack, Bonner tracked down a free ball 20 yards from the crease, drilled a crisp, left-footed shot on goal that found the upper right corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.
“Anytime you score first it’s a big bonus,” Krech said. “Ashlyn hit a tremendous shot. It’s tough for teams to duplicate that left-footed shot. She has been a primary defender for us all season, but she’s also capable of playing a key role in our attack. We have a lot of players who contribute on both sides of the field and that’s been one key to our good start.”
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