COLUMBUS, Miss. – The W women's soccer gave perhaps its grittiest effort of the young 2025 season in a 1-0 non-conference loss at home to Rhodes College at the Roger Short Soccer Complex. The setback dropped the Owls to 0-3-0, while the Lynx remained unbeaten at 2-0-1.
 
"I'm really proud of the way the team played tonight as our group showed a lot of maturity in their play," MUW Head Coach Ana Ramos said. "We went up against a very strong opponent in Rhodes and proved to ourselves that we can compete at that level. The coaching staff is more than pleased with how the team adapted to the formation change and carried out our game plan with discipline and composure."
 
Okay, so there are no points for "moral victories." But – despite it being a loss – don't be too surprised if the MUW ladies aren't hanging their heads too much, especially in the defensive half. After all, this was a Rhodes team that, in the four previous meetings, had outscored The W by a 21-0 margin in the series (averaging better than five goals per contest).
 
Fair play to the Lynx for keeping the Owls at bay with just three total shot tries. But for nearly 84 minutes, MUW's defense had the bend-but-don't-break mentality in full force of a 0-0 bout. With 37 total shot attempts, 10 of which were on-goal, the visitors finally netted the match's lone tally in the 84th minute of play off of a corner kick.
 
The effort was certainly a feather in the caps of defenders Lucy Warner, Emma Hall, Anna McKee, Avery Bartlett, Adayah Wood, and Halle Riddle. Goalkeeper Cam Lopez was the anchor of the unit, registering season high nine saves, several of the acrobatic variety.
 
None of Lopez's saves was prettier, nor more crucial at the time, than midway through the second half. The Lynx attacked from the far side and got a one-on-one versus Lopez, sending a shot toward the far post. But Lopez made a sterling kick save to keep the match scoreless, as the defense cleared the ball.
 
MUW's Abby Warchus had her team's only shot attempt on frame.
 
The W will next travel to LaGrange College in Georgia on Saturday (September 6/1 p.m. CT).