Matthew McMorrough, Contributing Writer
Our Fighting Scots women’s soccer team, following a close midweek home loss against Westminster just days before, took the pitch on Saturday, Sept. 17 against the Wilmington Quakers. The Scots bounced back, defeating Westminster 3-2 on their own turf and improving their record to 3-2-2. Sophomores led the way in this comeback match, with all three goals coming from the class of 2025.
Wooster got the scoring off to a quick start, with Hallie Krzys ’25 making a shot on goal in only the fifth minute, the first score of the game from either team. Before halftime’s rest though, Wilmington was able to tie it up at the 17th minute off of a penalty kick goal, with no other goals from either side prior to the half.
Re-establishing dominance for the team, Emma Jaros ’25 scored right out of the gate as the second half began, shifting the tied score to a 2-1 Scots lead. Jaros discussed the challenges involved with maintaining focus during the game. “Between the rowdy fans, questionable refereeing and injuries our team faced, it could have been very easy to lose focus.” Despite this, Jaros complimented the team for its ability to overcome adversity. “The whole team focused on leaving everything they had on the field to get the win.” Nothing less than a winning attitude would be expected from this squad.
After 21 minutes of comfort in the lead, the score was tied by another Wilmington Quaker’s penalty kick goal in the 66th minute. The air was tense with the vie for the lead, and the urgency of the moment was not lost on the Scots. The tied score wasn’t on the board for more than five minutes, when Maggie Stieby ’25 scored in the 70th minute to bring Wooster firmly into the lead, and ultimately over the top as the last goal scored in the game.
This was Stieby’s first goal of her collegiate career, and to the question of what went through her head leading up to it, she credited “Emma [Jaros ’25] [for] drawing the foul, Lily’s [Glaza ’25] service and Julia [Struck ’26] [for] distracting the keeper.” Jaros was elated at her teammate’s goal, noting that it was her favorite part of the game because “the whole team was playing at such a high intensity, and it was so exciting to see that pay off.” Over the course of the game, Wilmington outshot Wooster 14-9, and the Scots managed to fend off eight corner kicks. Amanda Flory ’25 was in net, accumulating eight saves as she indispensably assisted in securing the victory.
Putting together a win like this involved putting in the hours, of course, with intentional use of each minute outside of the match. “After coming off a tough loss against Westminster, we knew we needed to come out strong and never let up pressure,” Jaros recounted. Fortunately, as Jaros noted, “I think we did just that to pull off this win.” In addition to synthesizing the vengeance with which they knew they’d have to come out following their last loss, there was sharp precision in planning for the specific challenges. According to Stieby, “we knew ahead of time that the field was smaller and narrow, so our practices revolved around playing in tight spaces.” In the end, it all comes back to teamwork, a consistent theme with this group.
The Scots will look to carry this match’s intensity into a winning effort in another away game against John Carroll University on Sunday, Sept. 24. As they continue their strong start to the season, with a fiery emphasis on teamwork and dedication to improvement, the Fighting Scots women’s soccer team similarly remain looking ready to fight for the NCAC championship again this season.
The Wooster Voice 