The women’s soccer team played their first game in the America East Conference on Thursday night at Virtue Field.

The Catamounts lost 2-1 against the New Hampshire Wildcats. Going into the conference, the women’s record was 4-4-1 bringing their new overall record to 4-5-1 and their league play to 0-1.

The Wildcats scored an early goal in the third minute of the game. The free kick was taken by senior defender Jackie Feraco. The goal was scored after an unsuccessful header to clear the ball from the goal by a Vermont defender.

“A goal is a goal so you’re always going to have to fight back for it,” head coach Kristi Lefebvre said.  “I think we played well despite that happening.”

The Catamounts soon had opportunities of their own.  A corner kick taken by first-year midfielder Ella Banket led junior captain Brooke Jenkins to take a shot at goal.  The shot was saved by UNH goalie Mia Neas.

In the 30th minute of the game, UVM senior goalie Coco Speckmaier deflected a save off the crossbar of the goal.  However, a rebound from UNH junior midfielder Gaby Dorsey gave UNH their second goal.

After coming back from halftime, the Catamounts started the second half determined to come back from the two goals. They had five shots towards the beginning of the half, according to UVM athletics.

“We knew coming into the second half we were going to have a lot of work to do and I think we kind of just knew we were going to have to put in extra work,” Jenkins said.

“You know you have to get serious but also have fun.  As a whole team we had our goals and [wanted to] see if we exceeded them by halftime,” Speckmaier said.

In addition to the initial save for the second goal, Speckmaier had four other saves, according to UVM athletics.

Despite the loss, both Speckmaier and Jenkins were proud of the way their team played.

“We’re just looking to bounce back from this game,” Jenkins said.  “Playing on the road on Sunday is going to have to be a big win.”

The next women’s soccer games are Oct. 1 at Binghamton University and Oct. 5 at University of Massachusetts Lowell, according to UVM athletics.