The last time the Albion women’s soccer team was in position to gain first place in the league was on Oct. 16 when they battled Hope at Alumni Field. The Britons have since finished 1-2 for the remaining three games of the season.
“Our team played well against Hope. They’re a tough team, they work hard, but we held our own against them,” said Lauren Eckler, South Lyon sophomore.
The Britons failed to score off four shot in the second half. Hope managed nine shots in the second half. Bowditch was there again with three more key saves in the second.
“Time management is key. Once we realized it was a tie with about six minutes left, we played more reserved to preserve the tie,” said goalie Sam Bowditch, Portage sophomore.
On Oct. 19, the Britons earned a 4-0 victory over Trine on the road. The victory brought the Britons to fourth place with two matches left in the season.
Four days later, the Britons were shutout 2-0 by Calvin College at home. With this loss, the Britons dropped to sixth. However, since Hope, who resided in seventh place, lost to Alma on the same day, the Britons were guaranteed a seed in the MIAA tournament.
With a win in the season finale against Alma, the Britons would have finished their season fourth on the MIAA. This would have gave them home field advantage in the preliminary round of the conference tournament against Olivet. Instead, Albion finished sixth after getting shutout for the second straight game at home, losing 2-0 to Alma, who earned the first seed in the conference tournament.
As the sixth seed, Albion will begin play this Saturday at noon at Kalamazoo. The Britons managed a 1-1 tie against the Hornets earlier in the season.
“I watch the MIAA points and standings quite closely. In our games against Kalamazoo and Hope, I told our team to play for the tie rather than be aggressive and risk a loss,” said Lisa Roschek, head coach.
The Britons finished the season 4-10-3 overall with a 3-3-2 record in the conference.
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