By Bob Bonett
Hofstra failed to pull off back-to-back miracle wins against the Virginia Commonwealth, as Marie Curtin’s return did not prevent a retaliatory 2-0 victory from the Rams.
The victory was extra sweet for VCU. One year ago, in the CAA tournament, Hofstra eliminated the Rams to claim the conference crown and earn its first trip to the NCAA tournament.
Yet, the 2006 Hofstra squad looked meager in comparison to the previous year’s Pride, as the multitude of injuries that has dominated the women’s soccer headlines again led to an important conference loss.
Two days after losing to a struggling James Madison team, the Pride needed a win over VCU to try to climb back into the playoff race. Yet, even with Curtin’s brief 15-minute return from a second degree ankle sprain, the Pride failed to score for the third consecutive game, and the fifth time in six games.
The key loss sent Hofstra (7-8-1, 3-5 CAA) into a must-win position for the final three games of the season to have any sort of opportunity to even make an appearance in the CAA playoffs.
All of the scoring occurred within 10 minutes in the second half, less than two minutes after Curtin’s short return ended. VCU superstar Pernilla Jansson broke the scoreless tie at the 57:27 mark from 25 yards out off of a pass from Leigh Anthony.
Before Hofstra could blink, the Rams extended their lead to 2-0, at 64:26 on a goal by Bridgit Cooley, her first of the season.
Following the two quick goals, goalie Krysten Farriella managed to hold VCU scoreless, but the hapless Hofstra offense failed to push any past Rams goalie Lauren Hardison.
Following a weekend of sloppy soccer, though, and a poor loss to lowly James Madison, head coach Simon Riddiough felt that the Pride stepped up their play, making a great showing for 80 minutes of the game.
“We played very well Sunday,” Riddiough said. “We matched VCU every minute, and apart from a mental lapse around the 65th minute, I was happy with the performance of the girls.”
Riddiough added that he was not yet counting out the playoffs, as he still feels that the girls can win out and qualify.
The aforementioned return of offensive star Curtin did shed some light on the weekend sweep, though. Riddiough said that Curtin’s play was a “litmus test” on Sunday. “She was not 100 percent, but still played effective enough to score, and nearly did,” he added.
Curtin was just anxious to get back into the action. Coming off the bench late in the first half and playing a few minutes in the second half, Curtin said, “I wasn’t 100 percent for the game, and I knew I wasn’t going to be [full strength]. I had so much desire to play, and it is so vital right now to win as many games as possible, so I wanted to get back into the action right away.”
The offensive standout also felt that her team stepped up their play in the game against VCU. “We actually played very well,” Curtin said. “They just had the better overall squad, whereas we didn’t have many healthy players, and the few we had, most were still not 100 percent, such as Kristine [Suapengco] and I.”
Despite any amount of positives that could be taken from the weekend’s games, though, the truth of the matter is that the Pride is stumbling, and may be facing grim playoff hopes. Seated at two games below .500 in the conference with only three games left, the Pride will not only have to win three key games against worthy divisional opponents coming up (Drexel, Delaware and Northeastern), but also hope for some help and luck from other divisional foes.
Next up for the Pride will be Drexel on the road on Friday at 4 p.m. With a win, Curtin, Sue Weber and the rest of the team may retain slim playoff chances. Yet, Friday’s game may be as close to a must-win game as possible, as a loss will spell a November without soccer for Riddiough’s team.