The 2023 Trinity Women’s Soccer season got off to an extremely rocky start. The team started the season with just two wins in their first eight games. Since then, the team has proved that this tough start was nothing more than a difficult out-of-conference schedule. The team has been simply unstoppable since starting conference play and is currently on a seven-game winning streak.
Since starting conference play, Trinity has only been scored on once in six games. On the other side of the spectrum, Trinity has scored an average of a little more than four goals per game. Before this past Sunday, Trinity’s biggest conference games were a four-goal performance on the road against Southwestern University and a huge six-goal win over Austin College at Paul McGinlay Field.
While those two wins were impressive, Trinity’s win over Centenary College on Sunday put all those games to shame. The team came out sporting a special pink uniform to bring awareness to breast cancer awareness. While the kit was flashy and eye-catching, Trinity’s play was even better.
The game started quickly for the Tigers when a Centenary goal kick went awry and sophomore forward Hanna Khan collected the ball on the edge of the box. Khan made her way to the end line, where a cutback pass snuck past one teammate before finding the feet of senior defender Kyra Stafford, who tapped home for the first goal of many. Less than five minutes later, Trinity was on the attack again. After Trinity intercepted a Centenary punt, Khan repeated her assist from earlier, this time finding junior forward Michaela Bosco for her first goal of the day.
It took a bit longer before Trinity got their third goal. With 21 minutes left in the first half, Stafford played Bosco, who split two defenders, dribbled into the box and scored her second of the day. Before halftime, Trinity scored two more. Junior substitute Abby Schneider came in at forward and collected a blocked clearance in the box to score Trinity’s fourth goal. Trinity’s fifth goal came off a corner when graduate student Bailey Meyer came forward from her defensive post to add to the scoresheet just before halftime.
Trinity wasn’t done after five and came out in the second half on the hunt for more. For the sixth goal, Trinity reversed the roles from their second of the day as Bosco found Khan for her first goal of the day. Soon after, in just the 51st minute of play, Bosco got her fourth and final contribution to the scoresheet, finishing off her hat trick with a penalty kick she won herself.
First-year World Cup player Malea Cesar got her name on the scoresheet, playing a give-and-go to fellow first-year Madisyn Barganski, who slotted home to make it eight goals for the Tigers. Trinity ended their scoring clinic after another poorly-played Centenary goal kick that Trinity won back, leading to first-year Siena Robinson’s first collegiate goal as she finished impressively from outside the box.
Bosco’s brilliant performance and hat trick made her Trinity’s leader in points on the season. Bosco’s and the Tigers’ season will come to an end today as the Tigers take on Schreiner at home at 5:30 p.m. After that, Trinity will turn their attention to the all-important conference tournament that starts on Nov. 3.