Kim Possible

Second-year forward Kimberly Chen leads women’s soccer to win over Wooster

A crime-fighting superheroine was spotted on DiSanto Field last week. She slashed through her enemies, taking them out one by one in the process, knowing that her name told it all. In the process, she saved her school and team from being in harm’s way, leading to her being bestowed with the prestigious honor of Spartan Club Athlete of the Week.

This “Kim Possible” was none other than second-year forward Kimberly Chen, who scored both of Case Western Reserve University women’s soccer team goals, leading to a 1-0 win over College of Wooster at home on Tuesday, Oct. 3 and a heartbreaking 2-1 loss at New York University (NYU) on Saturday, Oct. 7.

Chen displayed her powers first against Wooster with her early goal, a shot from 15 yards out off of an assist by fourth-year midfielder Elle Zadina, during the fourth minute.

After scoring that goal, I was really happy and pumped because one of our team goals is to score within the first five minutes, which we did. It also set the tone for our teamplaying hard and with high intensity,” said Chen.

Along with Chen and the offense, second-year goalie Lauren Unterborn and the defense held up to Wooster’s attack. Even with Wooster’s seven shots on goal, none of them were able to get by the hands of Unterborn, who recorded her third clean sheet of the season.

CWRU maintained this same level of intensity going into their next game at NYU, which was their second University Athletic Association (UAA) match of the season. Chen scored her goal by beating a defender and then juking the goalie one-on-one to score in the fifth minute. The defense also contributed by not allowing a single NYU goal in the first half.

However, this wouldn’t last long as Violets fourth-year forward Charlotte Herbertz scored in the 51st minute to tie the game up at 1. NYU ultimately took the lead and never looked back with the game-deciding goal scored by first-year midfielder Tori Bianco in the 75th minute. The Spartans fell 2-1.

The team finished the week with a win and a loss, bringing their record to 5-7-0 overall and 0-2-0 in UAA play.

Head Coach Tiffany Crooks applauded her team.

As a team, we’re playing well. We’ve switched our formation to become more competitive against our upcoming competition. The group has adapted well to the change and is excited about the challenges of it,” she said.

The team will continue its 2017 campaign with two UAA road matches, one against No. 2 Washington University in St. Louis on Friday, Oct. 13 and then another against No. 1 University of Chicago on Sunday, Oct. 15.

“First off, we do not think about their rankings. The great thing about soccer is that those numbers mean nothing; it’s all about who shows up ready to play that particular day,” said fourth-year defensive back and co-team captain Neha Cheemalavagu. “With that said, we are not taking them lightly. Our team always gets really excited and competitive for these two games and every year we step up our game when we play them. This week of practice we are going to solidify the organization around the field and work hard to stay excited, but composed.”