After a magical run from 2019 to 2023, during which the women’s soccer team clinched four consecutive Ivy League titles and posted an impeccable conference record of 25-0-2, last year’s overall 7-5-5 season showed that the team was mortal after all. But with the fall semester picking up again, the Bears are back and aiming to succeed where they faltered a year ago.

Four games into the season, Brown (3-1) has already picked up three victories, besting the University of New Haven (0-2), the University of Rhode Island (4-1) and the University of Connecticut (1-2-1). 

“Our team came into preseason in a really good place from a fitness, and general health standpoint,” Head Coach Kia McNeill wrote in an email to The Herald. That “allowed us to hit the ground running as a coaching staff to immediately start talking about our core pillars and (the) overall DNA of our program.” 

Last year, the Bears took the pitch for the first time without the star-studded trio of Sheyenne Allen ’23.5, Ava Seelenfreund ’23.5 and three-time All-American Brittany Raphino ’23.5, the latter two of whom now play professionally in Portugal. Allen played in Portugal for a season and now plays for Fort Lauderdale United Football Club.

With a sizable portion of the team graduating the year prior, last year’s squad was incredibly young, McNeill explained. But “this year, you can just tell that we have a bit more maturity and leadership on the field,” she wrote. “A lot of freshmen got experience in meaningful games last season, and I think that experience is already paying off for them as sophomores in terms of the impact, focus and confidence they are bringing to the table.”

The Bears dominated their season opener against New Haven. Joy Okonye ’27 was a master set-piece taker, scoring twice on free kicks. She slotted her first goal in the bottom corner in the 33rd minute, and after Ayla Sahin ’28 scored a goal to start the second half, Okonye netted her second free kick to cement the 3-0 victory. 

“Our success has come from the work we’ve been putting in as a group since preseason,” Sahin wrote in a message to The Herald. “We’re really focused on playing for each other, and when we connect and play our style, the chances come naturally.”

Brown carried this momentum into the second game of the season: the home opener against URI. In a heavily contested affair, the Bears fought their way to a well-deserved 3-2 victory.

Beneath the lights at Stevenson-Pincince Field, senior captain Naya Cardoza ’26 made quick work of the Rams’ defense, scoring the first goal of the game less than six minutes into the contest. Ella Weil ’28 built on that effort, scoring 13 minutes later. 

Despite giving up a goal to round out the first half, the Bears came back swinging in the second, with Sahin scoring the third goal. Under pressure from URI, who netted another goal of their own in the 75th minute, Brown stood strong, walking away with the victory. 

“It was a dog fight, and we knew it would be, but it’s good to scrap out that win,” McNeill wrote in a message to Brown Athletics. “We’re a team that wants to be multi-dimensional in that attack — we want to be dangerous on set pieces, but we also want to be dangerous in the run of play … definitely something to build off of going forward.”

Concluding the three-game debut, Brown picked up a 1-0 victory over Connecticut last week. For the third game in a row, Sahin put on the afterburners to torch the opposing defense and find the back of the net. On Tuesday, she was named the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week.

“She’s got unbelievable pace,” McNeill wrote. “It’s a huge weapon for us, getting behind defenses.”

“I came into this season wanting to be a more dominant player and really show how I have developed since last season,” Sahin wrote. “My teammates have done a great job creating opportunities.”

But after a picture-perfect start, the Bears tasted defeat for the first time this season on Monday night. After conceding an early goal, Brown was unable to overcome the deficit and lost 2-0 to nationally ranked University of Minnesota (4-1). 

“We started the game a bit slow, and in that time we gave up a goal, which had us chasing … for the rest of the game,” McNeill explained.

“We’ve had 4 games in 11 days, so I think rest and recovery is important,” McNeill wrote after the loss, describing the team’s plans to watch film and plan for their next match on Thursday night against Northeastern University. 

“This group is resilient so this loss is only going to make us stronger as a team which is exactly what we want as we continue to build to Ivy League play,” she concluded. 

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“Our mentality is really strong heading into Thursday,” Sahin wrote. “Losses are part of being an athlete: They test you, but they also make you stronger. I know our team will use this as motivation to keep pushing forward.”

Lydell Dyer

Lydell Dyer is a sports editor for The Herald. A junior hailing from Bonn, Germany, Lydell is studying nonfiction English and political science, and if he’s not off “making words sound pretty,” you can find him lifting heavy circles at the Nelson.