Caleb Yauger

For The Yellow Jacket

The Waynesburg men’s and women’s soccer teams are still looking for their first conference win of the season.

 Wednesday night ended as a 1-0 loss for the women’s team (4-6) and a 2-0 defeat for the men’s team (1-9).

Both squads are now 0-3 in conference play.

“Unfortunate is the word I would use,” women’s head coach George DeAugustino said.

The women’s team combined for 11 total shots with five being on frame.

Chatham, however, had 11 shots on goal, one of them being put into the back of the net by senior Morgan Anderson at 12:17 in the first half.

Waynesburg freshman Haley Johnson and sophomore Kate James each contributed three shots on the night, and DeAugustino was particularly impressed by his midfielder.

“[James] was dynamic on the ball [and] created a lot of good goal-scoring opportunities for us tonight,” DeAugustino said.

Junior Autumn Blair made her defensive contributions by saving 10 shots against the Cougars.

The past two games have resulted in shutouts for the Yellow Jackets, but DeAugustino feels that his team is going to figure it out.

“We have a lot of grit. We have a lot of energy, [and] we’re a team that’s constantly looking to get better every single day,” DeAugustino said. “We’re knocking on the door here offensively.”

After suffering a 4-2 loss against PAC powerhouse Grove City four days before Wednesday night’s match, the men’s team was looking to bounce back and earn it’s second win of the season.

Waynesburg only managed two shots in the entire first half opposed to Chatham’s eight, but there was no score at the end of the first half.

The Yellow Jackets turned it around by outshooting Chatham 11-8 in the second half.

Unfortunately for Waynesburg, Chatham was able to net two of their shots and would end up taking the 2-0 victory.

Senior Ryan Tahbaz was responsible for both Cougar goals at 63:52 and 89:03.

“Chatham is just a hard-working, two-touch soccer team,” men’s head coach Treg Lunger said. “To move the ball from high to low pressure as well as they did at times, it’s what makes them dangerous.”

Waynesburg freshman Seth Massotti led the Yellow Jackets with five total shots, four of them being on goal in the 87 minutes that he played.

“He’s been fantastic finding the back of the net [and] being creative,” Lunger said. “That’s allowed us to open up some play for other players.”

The venue for both soccer teams on Saturday will be at Bethany College, where the Yellow Jackets face the Bison in a doubleheader. The women’s game starts at 12:30 p.m., and the men’s game starts at 4 p.m.

“It’s an opportunity for us to go out and get three points,” Lunger said. “We need those three points.”