“Come on Guilford, let’s pick up the pressure!” shouted junior Caroline Hemeter.The Quakers responded accordingly, and kept Methodist University struggling to keep up the first half. However, a string of mishaps and missed opportunities left the Quakers behind in the end, with Methodist ending the game with three goals to Guilford’s one.

“Wednesday was a tough loss,” said senior keeper Amber Stapler. “A lot of us did not have our best game, and unfortunately when that happens, the outcome is not good. Methodist just simply outplayed us.”

The rain subsided in time for Guilford’s second home game against Methodist University, rescheduled for Sept. 17 because of inclement weather the preceding week.The Quakers took an early lead in the 13th minute of the first half when junior midfielder Bree Vohs scored her first goal of the season by beating the defenders and leaving the keeper stranded.

Applying solid offensive pressure on the Monarchs’ keeper, the Quakers took several shots on goal and nearly took another goal four minutes later off of a combination of nice passes, and a crossbar shot from Lauren Baber’s right foot.

The Quakers kept the ball over the midfield line with clean tackles and a short passing game.

Several team members displayed superb individual skill, including excellent ball handling by senior captain Amanda Sperr, and an impressive offensive interception by sophomore Ellie Taylor.

Junior right fullback Sarah Monaghan, thwarted several Monarch attempts to penetrate into the penalty box, while Stapler was most often successful in shutting down overzealous Methodist forwards.

At the two-minute warning, the Monarchs poured their efforts into a forceful offense, and effectively moved the ball into Quaker territory. This aggressive energy would soon carry through to the second half.

A corner kick on Guilford’s goal resulted in a close-range goal for Methodist junior Ashley Kolano three minutes into the second half. The Quakers, who were startled, started feeling the intensity of the Monarchs’ redoubled efforts when junior Erica Nath scored another goal five and a half minutes later.

After suffering two consecutive goals, Quaker offensive ball control began to unravel. The reliance on the long ball and the possibility of one-on-one, breakaway plays became more central to the Quakers’ efforts to tie the game.

This strategy nearly yielded a goal at the 18:30 mark, when first-year Lauren Matthews bounced a shot off the crossbar and left the Methodist keeper scrambling.Nath would score the team’s third goal a minute later, widening the Monarchs’ lead to two.

“We were under pressure not only to get one goal, but now two goals just to tie,” Stapler said.

This last goal seemed to sap the Quakers’ offensive energy, and Methodist players increasingly beat Guilford forwards to the ball, while the Quaker defense had a difficult time managing the newly emboldened Monarch offense.

“That was the worst game we played all year,” said head coach Eric Lewis, in summation of the afternoon.

“Methodist is a good team, but we can beat them,” said Sperr. “We didn’t start playing our best until after they scored.”

First-year and transfer students compose nearly half of this season’s roster, but Sperr feels that the team is improving and becoming more cohesive with every game. Sperr is confident that the team will be healthy and prepared for the tougher games that await them at the end of the season.

“We’re a young team, and five of our starters were out this game because of injury or illness,” Sperr said. “We definitely have a lot of potential, and we’re always getting better each game.”

“Because the team is so young, they hustle, work hard, and give everything they have the majority of the time, and that is a great way to start out,” said Stapler, agreeing with Sperr.

It’s evident that the Quakers are having a bout of tough luck. The bug that is going around campus affected the starting line-up for the last few games, and injuries ranging from a torn ACL to a fractured eye socket have kept some team members out of commission.

The Quakers’ next home game is on Oct. 8, at 4 p.m., against Hollins University. Watch the Quakers take out their anger on an Old Dominican Athletic Conference rival.