The women’s soccer team ended its three-game losing streak Tuesday with a 2-1 win against conference opponent Smith College. 

Freshman forward Alexa Ingersoll scored a goal to give the Lions a 1-0 advantage 17 seconds into the game.  

“We knew that this was a game that we had to win in order to make the playoffs, and right away we all pressured super quickly,” sophomore forward Grace Cosgrove said in a post-game interview. “It just ended up working out perfectly. I think that’s the fastest we’ve ever scored a goal.”

The Lions took five shots in an extremely physical first half. Head coach David Suvak praised the team’s performance. 

“There were parts of the first half where we started to gain our composure and control the possession,” Suvak said. “I think that was a big thing that we were trying to do—just changing the tempo of the game and not making it a horse race.”

The Lions took five shots early in the second half, including three by senior forward Veronica Alberts, but none of them found the back of the net. Smith scored a goal in the 65th minute off a corner kick to tie the game. 

Five minutes later, Cosgrove scored a goal from outside of the box that hit the top left corner of the goal for the Lions’ second and deciding goal of the game.

“We know that once another team scores on us, their momentum is really high,” Cosgrove said. “In order to push them down, we had to come back even stronger and even harder.”

Alberts credited home field advantage for helping the team get the win. 

“We were like, ‘Wow, we’re back on our home field,’” Alberts said in a post-game interview. “We lost three tough games, and I think [playing at home] was a driving force.”

Cosgrove said the team is prepared for its upcoming three conference games.

“We know that our opponents coming up are going to be just as good, if not better than, this team,” Cosgrove said. “We’re just gonna have to keep doing what we’re doing and play a full 90-minute game.”

The Lions play their next game on the road against Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 1 p.m.