In Coach Kelly Kuss’s first game as a Bison, the women’s soccer team took the field to garner a win versus Towson on Aug. 21. Carried by a goal from Cora Climo ’17, the Bison went up 1-0 for their first tally in the 2015 season win column. After the momentum from the first game, the Bison faced UMBC on the road on Aug. 23, and fought to tie the game 1-1 with a goal from Sarah Bresette ’17. A quick turn-around brought the Bison out to California, where they battled with Loyola Marymount and Long Beach State, dropping the pair of matches to bring their record to 1-2-1.

With a win over Towson at home, the Bison women managed to capture the first win of the 2015 fall season for all of the Orange and Blue fall athletic teams.

“It felt awesome to be able to kick off Bison Athletics with our first game at home with a win over Towson. It was a great way to start off our season and gave us some momentum and excitement for our upcoming games,” Climo said.

The deciding score came from Climo in the second half of the game, after pressure from two previous attempts called as offside began to mount. Climo capitalized on a pass from teammate Devan Schulte ’16 in the 86th minute, putting the game away just as time wound down. Goalkeeper Jessica Ratner ’17 tallied three saves on the day, maintaining the shut-out to protect the team’s first victory.

The Bison then traveled to UMBC for their first away game of the season, where they fought for a draw 1-1. Bresette scored the goal for the Orange and Blue, after finishing off a cross into the box from Talia Szatkowski ’19. Szatkowski simultaneously earned the first point of her collegiate career from the assist. Despite a myriad of opportunities, time proved not to work in the Orange and Blue’s favor when UMBC tied the game with a goal in the 58th minute. Both teams fought for the winning goal, but after a full 110 minutes, the match ended in a tie.

The Bison continued their games on the road when they traveled out to California for a set of matches versus Loyola Marymount and Long Beach State, falling 3-0 and 1-0 to the teams respectively. The loss against Long Beach State was particularly heartbreaking, as the winning goal came from their opponent in overtime. 

“Our losses to LMU and Long Beach State have further prepared us for the season. We are excited to move forward and ultimately win Patriot Leagues. We have tested ourselves with competitive opponents in our pre-league play, and are very eager to take on our future opponents,” Bresette said.

Looking ahead towards the remainder of the season, the Bison have high hopes, specifically for their league-play.

“Every girl on the team trained this summer in preparation for our season. The majority of our team passed the fitness test the first day of preseason and we have gone up in fitness from there,” Bresette said. 

“Our hearts are set on winning a Patriot League Championship and I really believe that we have the passion and strength to do so. We’ve only been together for a month thus far, but we’ve already bonded so much as a team. We’ve played some great opponents and have learned a lot in these past couple of weeks. It should be an exciting season!” Climo said. 

The Bison are back in action on Sept. 4.,when they will continue their matches on the road versus Mount Saint Mary’s in Emmitsburg, Md.