Last Saturday, the Ladies' Soccer team played against Jarvis Christian College. However, this is not the first time the Ladies have faced off against them. Last fall season they scrimmaged Jarvis and lost 1-0. Later in the spring season, they played again and dominated the game with a final score of 3-0. During that game in May, things got pretty heated on the field, resulting in some tension coming into this past game. Although both teams were eager to start the match, because of lighting delays, they had to wait in the locker room for thirty minutes before they could make their way to the field. After this time was over, both teams had less than half as much time to warm up as they normally would have. Although the referees gave the all-clear to play, the weather was not in either team's favor, with dark clouds looming over the field with light rain. The Ladies had their usual starting lineup except for one freshman, Kylie Zeller, who played the whole ninety minutes. She did a remarkable job at outside back and was a key player in the attack from the right side. Another freshman of note is Aubrey Burkhart, who played the majority of the game. Aubrey has not played soccer since her junior year of high school about four years ago and is making a comeback here at Centenary. The remaining freshmen that debuted in the game were Kayla Yancy, Adele Bihler, and Katie Smith. 

The first half went by relatively slowly as neither team could get a real leg up on the other. Centenary had a great build-up many times but just could not find the back of the net. Freshman Katie Smith had a beautiful shot on goal that hit just wide of the post, and the tall Jarvis goalkeeper snatched up many shots. Jarvis was advancing slowly but surely, just waiting for their opportunity on goal. All of Jarvis’ attempts were thwarted away by center backs Yosi Bouslog and Ariel Muller. Late in the first half, a stray ball came through the back line, and as keeper, Madison Ersoff came out, Yosi went to protect her, and one of the Jarvis forwards collided with Yosi resulting in her getting a concussion and, until further notice, having to sit on the sidelines and cheer on her team. As the first half was ending, a bolt of lightning about two miles away caused both teams to retreat to the locker rooms for halftime. After thirty minutes, the Ladies came out to take the field for the second half. This half went about the same as the first, with neither team getting a real shot on goal. Smith had a few more opportunities, but the Jarvis defense, unfortunately, did not let up. With about three minutes left on the clock, the Ladies pushed to get that final goal that would push them into the lead, but as the referee blew the final whistle, both teams walked off with their heads down, upset about the score. After the game, Ariel Muller gave a shout-out to Kylie and Katie for their exceptional performance in their first collegiate game. Overall it was not the result that the Centenary Ladies were looking for but they will go into their season ready for the challenge.

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