By Daniel Morand
The Ryerson Rams women’s soccer team was shutout 1-0 to the Laurentian Voyageurs in a waterlogged affair at Monarch Park Stadium on Saturday for their third straight loss.
Laurentian’s Julia Lopez scored the only goal of the match in the 76th minute. Lopez tapped in the game winner after Rams (0-3-0) keeper Rebecca Petrocelli failed to smother the ball on rain soaked turf.
The Rams outshot Laurentian (2-0-1) 5-3 and controlled possession in the first half amidst heavy rain.
“I think for the first 35 minutes we dominated, leading from the back line,” said Kevin Souter, the Rams head coach.
“The good thing about the wet weather is that the ball moves faster.”
Rams rookie goaltender Rebecca Petrocelli contributed by making two key saves in the first half.
“[The saves] helped the team move the momentum forward, but the last goal was my fault and it’s by no means the teams fault that we lost today,” says Petrocelli.
With as many as eight rookies on the field at one time, it is not hard for Souter to find the silver lining in Saturday’s loss. “We don’t want to experience these games a lot but it’s good for a young team to fuel the fire,” says Souter. “We’re making a bit of a statement this year. I think Laurentian got a bit nervous for a while, they didn’t expect us to be as strong as we were after last year.”
The Rams were outscored 4-0 last year between two losses and hasn’t beaten Laurentian since the 2010 season.
The young squad has a chance to redeem themselves on the road when they face Laurentian on Oct.5. The Rams continue their home stand tomorrow against Nipissing at 12:00 p.m.
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