The chill in the air and falling leaves mean that soccer playoff season isn’t too far away. A 1-3 record entering the game meant that the Muhlenberg women’s team had some work to do in order to qualify for the Centennial Conference playoffs.

WOMEN’S GOLF FIRST AT SUSQUEHANNA Freshman Kimberly Snyder of the Muhlenberg women’s golf team won her second straight tournament, shooting a school-record 79 at the Susquehanna Invitational. The Mules won the small event, which consisted of two complete teams and individuals from two other schools. Snyder’s six-over-par score was 17 strokes better than the second-place finisher. She broke the record of 81 she set at Dickinson in her first career tournament. Click here for box score.

The Mules took an important step to what they hope will be a playoff push with a 3-0 win against Bryn Mawr. Muhlenberg dominated the Owls (5-5-1,

Senior Andrea Dello Russo dribbles upfield in second-half action. She narrowly missed a goal late in the game, shooting just wide.

0-4), who came in having allowed more than one goal just once all season, from start to finish.

“It was great that we stepped it up tonight,” said senior Mallory DiMaio, who scored the first and last goals. “The rest of the season has to be us playing well to make the conference playoffs. Hopefully this will be a forecast.”

The Mules (6-5, 2-3) used their speed up front to put pressure on the Bryn Mawr defense in the early going, but couldn’t score until seven minutes remained in the first half. DiMaio, who had hit the crossbar just a couple of minutes earlier, dribbled into space in the middle of the field and took a bouncing shot that squirted through the goalie’s hands.

Speed led directly to the second goal, as freshman Christina O’Grady dribbled in from the left, beat her defender, turned the corner near the endline and deposited a shot from a difficult angle into the side netting at the far post.

Five minutes later, DiMaio banged in a direct kick from 30 yards out after she was fouled from behind.

The final goal allowed Muhlenberg to enjoy some rare breathing room for the last 20 minutes. Of the team’s first five wins, four were by one goal and the other by two goals.

After scoring a total of one goal in dropping three straight matches, the Mules tallied seven goals in winning a pair of games this week. “We’ve been messing around with some different mixes,“ noted DiMaio, the first Muhlenberg player since 2002 with back-to-back multiple-goal games. “I think we finally found out what we’re about and getting more used to each other.”

Click here for box score.