by Rachel Walsh

This past week we had four games, and split 50/50. We won against Villanova and Georgetown and lost to Temple and UMass. This busy, busy week has taught us a lot about what we need to do to advance in our conference. Even though we're 0-2 in Atlantic 10 play, we're keeping our heads up and moving forward as a team.

 

The game against Villanova was a roller coaster to say the least. We scored first, and were able to keep them at our heels in the first half; but they answered back in the second half with two goals, one of which was scored with 1:21 left on the clock. A timeout was called, and we knew what we had to do: get it into their circle. The next minute felt like 5 seconds. Then, with 30 seconds left on the clock, we earned a penalty corner and executed it PERFECTLY. GOOOOOOAAAAAALLLL :) !!!!

In the 15 minute overtime that was to follow, Therese Doyle would score a goal with 6 minutes left. We were all ecstatic! Not only did we win the "Holy War" for the first time in what seems like forever, we also proved to ourselves that we could come from behind, execute when we need to, and come out on top against a good team. This game was no joke, we knew going into it that it would be a hard game (because it always is) and we knew 'Nova had a good team. We dominated a majority of the game. It was unfortunate that we had those two minor breakdowns that they capitalized on, but overall everyone was completely happy with the result. Finally, the curse of losing every home game (to that point) on our home turf was broken!

 

Despite the exciment of Wednesday's game, our team kept working (bright and early) the next morning at practice. We had a few letdowns and we knew UMass could capitalize on our breakdowns if we didn't address them. Individual defense was a main focus, as well as perfect offensive penalty corners. Then it was off the Amherst, where we would play our second conference game.

 

The result was extremely disappointing. UMass got an early lead as they scored off a tip on a penalty corner within the first two minutes of the game. We were able to hold them off for another 17 minutes, but they notched two more goals before half. We knew we had to step it up: our individual defense was poor, and we couldnt get it past their defense. The second half was a blur; UMass scored four more goals to make the final score 7-0. We were upset, disappointed, embarrassed. This game highlighted major mistakes we make, but we're ready to fix them and ready to move forward within the conference. We all vowed to leave 110% out on the field at practice this week and leave the past games behind us. "There's a reason why your rearview mirror is so much smaller than your windshield." We have four games left, all four in-conference, and all four teams are beatable. To seal our spot in the conference tournament we would have to win three out of the four, but winning all four would definitely help.

 

 LET'S GO SJUFH!  BEAT RICHMOND!