The female soccer Mesa Olympians fell to the Southwestern Jaguars Sept. 18th, after a hard, bloody, and bruised battle, leaving several Mesa players injured.

Though the female Mesa soccer team suffered a home loss to Southwestern, it should be acknowledged that for much of the game, either team could have walked away with the victory. In fact, for the majority of the game’s first half, it was the Olympians game, controlling the field seemingly with ease, as it rarely left Southwestern territory, forcing Mesa’s opponent to dedicate themselves to a defensive strategy. Unfortunately for the Olympians, their early game offensive dominance was never capitalized upon, leaving them scoreless in the first half, and ultimately, leading to the team’s downfall.

The 0 that remained on Mesa’s scoreboard began to become a frustrating one, as it wasn’t for lack of opportunity. The Olympians had numerous chances to put the ball past the goaltender, whether it be by a single player dribbling past defenders and creating the opportunity for themselves, or by offering the chance to a fellow teammate to take their own shot at hitting net, nothing seemed to land. When half time came and went, those frustrations of missed chances of the 1st half to be atop the Jaguars, able to control their own destiny moving forward, bled into the 2nd half, leading to a game that had now spun 180 degrees.

Southwestern came out of half roaring with a new energy, a new aggression, and the Olympians simply couldn’t match it.

As the Jaguars pushed hard offensively time and time again, Mesa was stuck on their heels and unable to gain the footing they had found in the 1st half of the match. As the intensity mounted against Mesa, the injuries began to follow. It seemed like every few minutes, another Olympian hit the dirt, grabbing a different limb each time, only to be evaluated and sent back onto the field minutes later, just to suffer another injury.

With the battle bruised Olympians limping along, the Jaguars had found their moment to strike,  and they took it, successful in the attempt. With the clock at 36:23, Southwestern sent a ball high above the heads of the Mesa defenders, it then took several unfortunate bounces before finding its way past the keeper. Goal. The Southwestern bench went wild, and less than 4 minutes later, they went wild again. It was that goal that broke whatever spirit was left in the Olympians, ensuring there was no comeback victory to be had.

The team’s medical staff was just as busy as the players that night, both rushing back and forth from the bench and back onto the field. As the clock ticked its final seconds, it almost appeared to be a relief for the Mesa Olympians, who several could be seen tending to whatever wound was recently received as the Jaguars parting gift to them.