Saint Anselm women’s soccer saw two thundering victories in their first two games of the season, both of which were against nonconference teams. Conference play has not gone so well for the Hawks. They have lost four of their past five conference games and their fourth defeat came at the hands of Franklin Pierce University on Saturday Sept. 23.

The Hawks fell 3-1 to the Franklin Pierce Ravens away at Sodexo Stadium. The Hawks scored early off a goal by junior forward Corey Murray. She was set up beautifully from a cross by freshman midfielder Nicole White in the 15th minute.

White continues her hot start to the year with her seventh assist in just six games. Her seven assists are the most by a Saint Anselm Hawk since 2008. White stands at seventh all time in program history for assists in a single season, a real feat for a freshman playing in her first collegiate season. Seeing as the Hawks are just approaching their halfway mark in the season, it can be expected that White will continue to shine on the pitch.

Although the game started fairly evenly, Saint Anselm simply lost control of the game. In a matter of 13 minutes the score line dramatically changed from 1-0 to 3-1 Franklin Pierce. In the 23rd minute, junior defender Marta Turmo put on in the back of the net for the Hawks to even up the score. Just six minutes later, senior midefielder Nalina Valaydon scored for the Ravens, bringing the score to 2-1.

Just six minutes after Valaydon’s goal, the Hawks once again found themselves in trouble. A penalty kick was awarded to the Ravens following a handball in the box. Junior midfielder Nathalia Maria da Silva put the Ravens successfully converted the penalty to put the Ravens up by two.   

The teams traded chances in the second half but neither side could convert. The Ravens got help from junior midfielder Bruna Tavares and sophomore midfielder Gabi Pereira who both had an assist a piece. The Hawks had 8 shots in total but with only 5 on target while the Ravens had 21 shots with only eleven on target. Freshman goalie Payton Wildrick got the start in the second half between the posts for the Hawks and led the Hawks with five saves. Junior goalie Elise Bouchard started the game but was removed at the end of the first half because the game was about to get out of hand. Senior goalie Casey Cook had four saves on the night and improved her record to 4-1-1.

The Hawks started off the week well with an amazing game against Southern Connecticut State University in which we saw the Hawks win 1-0 in Overtime. In what was the program’s first NE-10 victory of the season, we saw an amazing game from both teams. It was something we have seen before from freshman Nicole White who crossed in a beautiful ball to senior midfielder Jessica Kaufman who volleyed in the cross at the back post. With such little time left in the first half, it was great to see the Hawks on top. This was junior goalie Elise Bouchard’s first shutout of her career. She saved all four shots that she faced. Kaufman scored her second goal of the year and looks to keep them coming. Nicole White now leads the NE-10 in assists with a total of seven.

The Hawks will come back home to play Bentley at 4:00PM on Wednesday Sept. 27 at Melucci Stadium. The Hawks are looking to rebound and start to get back on track for a place in the NE-10 playoffs. Sometimes experience matters, and while freshman can help and take over a game, the Hawks vitally need their seasoned veterans to step up and lead their team.