The Elizabethtown College men’s and women’s soccer teams came up short in the playoffs this past week. The men’s team fell to Goucher College on Tuesday, Oct. 31 in the quarterfinals 3-2. The women’s team found success in the quarterfinals with a 2-1 win over Moravian University, but their season came to an end on Thursday, Nov. 2 against the University of Scranton in a 5-1 loss.
The men’s team kicked off their playoff match at 7 p.m. that Tuesday. It was a wild kickoff to the Landmark Conference playoffs as the first half was one that saw both offenses firing on all cylinders. The Blue Jays got ahead on the scoreboard early with a 27th minute goal by graduate student midfielder Mehluko Letsoalo. His second goal of the season was assisted by a wonderful cross into the box by junior midfielder Pedro Guizardi.
Goucher would not go away, however, as they’d net a pair of goals within 10 minutes of each other. It started with a goal in the 34th minute that knotted the match at one. Then, in the 43rd minute of play, the Gophers would pull out in front, finding the back of the net to make it 2-1 just before the half.
In the second half, Etown was relentless with 11 shots, desperate to draw back even. Goucher would maintain a strong defensive form, fending off the Blue Jays’ offensive efforts.
Unfortunately, the Gophers would strike gold on a goal off a deflection in the 73rd minute to give themselves a two-goal lead.
Four minutes later, junior midfielder Hudson Peck sent a beautiful ball into the box on a corner kick, where Guizardi would head past the Gophers goalkeeper to make it a one-goal game. It was Guizardi’s eighth goal of the season.
As the half dwindled down, the Blue Jays would not go away, pushing the issue in the opponent’s end, but Goucher’s defense was too strong. Etown could not complete the comeback, and Goucher would win 3-2.
The women’s team came into Thursday’s semifinal matchup with Scranton on a roll. The team had put together a three-game winning streak coming into the night’s match, which included a win in the quarterfinals.
The Royals proved to be too much in this one, going up early and never looking back. The Blue Jays struggled to get anything going offensively in the first half, as Scranton’s defense kept Etown from getting any shots off. The Royals on the other hand found their rhythm, going up 3-0 within the first 24 minutes of play.
Scranton would add a fourth goal about halfway through the second half in the 72nd minute. About 10 minutes later, senior midfielder Maddie McWhinney scored her sixth goal of the year with an 82nd minute strike to get the Blue Jays on the board.
The top-seeded Royals would add one more before time was up. Their goal in the 88th minute made it 5-1, and that was it.
