Despite the Spartans’ high level of play this season, they came away winless from their double-header matchups against Carnegie Mellon University and Emory University. The Spartans played Carnegie Mellon on Friday in Pittsburgh, and then headed to Atlanta for the matchup against Emory on Saturday. The game against Carnegie Mellon started out a little slow for the Spartans. Carnegie Mellon came out shooting – literally – and had five shots in the first fifteen minutes whereas the Spartans were unable to capitalize on the attack.

Despite the difference in shooting, Carnegie Mellon still wasn’t quite dominating the first half. The Spartans began weaving passes through the midfield and their efforts paid off; following a series of shots against the Carnegie Mellon goalkeeper, the Spartans got two back-to-back corner kicks followed by more scoring opportunities midway through the half.

Unfortunately, Carnegie Mellon’s Alex Venegas scored a lucky goal at 40:57 and the half went on to end in favor of Carnegie Mellon. In the second half the Spartans really picked up their game and clearly dominated the field . . . they just couldn’t get a break. Though they outshot Carnegie Mellon 17-10 and led 8-4 in corner kicks, the Spartans just simply could not get the ball to go in the back of the net. Props to Carnegie Mellon’s goalkeeper and MVP of the game Anya Rosen for a total of 13 saves in the match. The game ended 1-0, dropping the Spartans to 9-6-1 in the season and 1-4 in the University Athletic Association conference.

Coming right off of the loss to Carnegie Mellon, the Spartans played UAA powerhouse Emory University the next day. Emory is ranked No. 6 in the country and has just one loss so far in the season. The Spartans didn’t let the Eagles’ intimidating ranking get to them and came out ready to play; the play was competitive right off the bat and the ball was evenly possessed on both sides.

At the 27:07 mark, the Spartan effort paid off. The Spartans got a corner kick and after a set play, Devyn Lee played a beautiful ball to Kendra Simmons, who then headed it into the goal. Simmons is currently the team high-scorer with eight goals for the season; the assist marks Lee’s fifth this year. The Spartans were able to maintain the 1-0 lead far into the second half until Emory, capitalizing on their frustration, put the ball into the back of the net in the 72nd minute.

The rest of the game went on to remain scoreless and proceeded into overtime. In overtime, Emory simply came out with intensity and momentum – not only did they want to prove their nation ranking, but it was also their Senior Night and the fans were going crazy. Emory’s Kelly Costopoulos scored the game-winning goal 2 minutes into overtime for the win. Junior Spartan goalkeeper Anna Kennedy had an outstanding game with nine saves – this is remarkable considering Emory led 11-3 in shots.

With the loss, Case drops to 9-7-1 overall and 1-5 in the UAA conference. The Spartans play University of Rochester next who are ranked No. 24 in the nation.