A Wild Ride

In just eight days, the women’s soccer team (13-6-1) went from seventh place to Centennial Conference (CC) champions, as the team won an improbable four consecutive do-or-die matches to claim the program’s first CC championship and NCAA playoffs appearance.

The unexpected outcome began Nov. 1, during Garnet Weekend, when the women defeated rival Haverford 2-0 to earn the fifth and final spot in the CC tournament. They reached the championship round after road victories over fourth seed Muhlenberg and first seed and nationally ranked Gettysburg.

The Garnet toppled rival Johns Hopkins—winner of eight of the last nine CC championships—in the final game. With the score deadlocked at 2-2 after 110 minutes of play, the match moved to penalty kicks. In the shootout, Claire O’Brien ’18 beat the Hopkins goalkeeper with a shot to the left corner of the net. Goalkeeper Reba Magier ’16, who would be named tournament MVP, followed with her third save in the shootout to clinch the match and championship for the Garnet.

Swarthmore dropped its first NCAA playoff match in a hard-fought contest to Connecticut College (3-1) but not before completing one of the most thrilling postseason runs in Swarthmore athletics history.