The Royals came away with a victory in Tuesday night’s home opener against Catholic University, a thrilling contest which saw 94 minutes of battle on the field and brought the Royals’ season record to 2-2-0. Catholic maintained possession of the ball for much of the match, but junior goalkeeper Leah Wenger and the rest of the Royals’ defense were on top of their game, conceding just one goal on 29 shots from Catholic. In comparison, the Royals logged just six shots throughout the game, but they made the most of their opportunities and ultimately handed the Cardinals their first loss of the season, dropping Catholic’s record to 4-1-1.
After a sequence of cold and rainy days at EMU, the weather finally cleared up Tuesday in time for the Royals’ home opener. As the sun settled in the west over the Shenandoah Valley, the women kicked off on the turf field shortly after 7 p.m. The Royals, dressed in their white-bluewhite uniforms, could not have asked for a better start. Just two minutes and twenty-four seconds into the match, junior forward Laura Rittenhouse trapped a pass with her chest in the attacking third, took a few touches and struck a shot from outside the 18 yard box around a defender and over Catholic’s goalkeeper to put the Royals up early. Catholic responded with urgency, forcing a save out of Wenger just one minute later. Capitalizing on an EMU foul around mid- field in the minute 29, Catholic delivered a cross into the box, where the team’s forward, junior Elizabeth Johnson, put the ball in the back of the net to tie the game.
The teams entered halftime tied at one, with the Royals the underdogs having earned zero corners to Catholic’s 11 and logging just three shots to the Cardinals’ 14. The second half was much like the first, with Catholic owning most of the possession and logging another 13 shots and five corners. The Cardinals nearly took the lead just four minutes into the second half with a bending free kick which struck the outside of the left post. With ten minutes left in regulation time, the team had another opportunity to go up by one, as a Cardinal dribbled around EMU’s goalkeeper but was unable to convert on a wide open net. Thanks to EMU’s resilient defense and nine total saves from Wenger, the teams headed for overtime, where it took just three minutes and thirty-three seconds for EMU to score the winning goal. Following a Cardinals turnover in the attacking half, first-year forward Hannah York triggered a counterattack up the middle of the field, out- running several defenders with the ball at her feet and passing it off to Rittenhouse outside the 18 yard box. Rittenhouse passed the ball back to York, who briefly lost possession in the box but was able to regain control and strike the ball off the bottom of the crossbar from close range to seal the victory for the Royals.
After the game, Rittenhouse called the contest “by far the most thrilling home opener” she has been a part of. She commended the Royals’ defensive stands and described the importance of coming away with the win. “We all feel proud to have beaten a strong program like Catholic, and believe this win will spark many more this season.”
Junior Trevor Oyer responded to what he witnessed from the stands. “[It was] definitely a big win for the EMU girls. For EMU to come out with a 2-1 win in overtime was pretty fun to watch.” Oyer added praise for the team’s resiliency. “The defense needed to be a wall back there. Leah played great and had a ton of saves, and also the back defenders played really well.”
The Royals continue their season on Saturday, Sept. 22 at 2 p.m. at Guilford College, where they will look to sustain the energy from Tuesday night’s fortifying win. The team’s next home game is Wednesday, Sept. 26 versus Bridgewater at 4:30 p.m.
