By Bob Bonett
Without leading scorer and offensive sparkplug Marie Curtin, head coach Simon Riddiough and the women’s soccer team knew that scoring against conference contender UNC Wilmington would be quite the task.
What the team did not foresee was the first defensive breakdown in recent memory.
On Friday’s match up with Georgia State, the Pride lost perennial all-conference star Curtin to what Riddiough called a “high ankle sprain.” Thus, defensive center Sue Weber needed to step up on the offensive side on Sunday, taking the ball deep into Seahawks territory to set up offensive plays, take free kicks and oversee the duties on corner kicks.
However, as expected by those in attendance, the usage of Weber as an attacking defender left many holes in the Hofstra defense.
Behind two early goals from Kelly Renkin (her team-leading sixth score at 19:10) and Liz Chriss (21:02) off of sloppy plays by the Hofstra defense and a clincher by Ashley Church (88:23) late in the game with Krystal Robens in net in an attack position, the Lady Pride was trounced 3-0 by UNC Wilmington.
Following a disappointing weekend sweep by two of the conference’s elite, back-to-back home wins were essential in reassuring the Hofstra playoff push. Yet, after a very mediocre 2-1 win over hapless Georgia State, the Pride saw its 14-game home unbeaten streak (13-0-1) snapped by the Seahawks (9-4, 4-2 CAA).
And while the first two losses of the Pride’s current 1-3 stretch had a mix of positives and negatives, the Sunday blowout basically defined the lopsided, horrific loss that every contender fears.
When a team is as shorthanded as the Pride (7-6-1, 3-3), winning is no easy task. The injury to Curtin occurred late in the win over Georgia State, and is expected to sideline her for one to three weeks.
Losing Curtin meant more than just losing the team’s leading scorer-it also added an even new dimension of inexperience to the Hofstra lineup. Weber was the only returning starter from the 2005 team that played in the game, and she basically was forced took over all of Curtin’s duties.
With the injury bug continuing to bite Hofstra, fans and coaches alike are attempting to remain optimistic about the Pride’s chances at winning the conference. However, at the same time, it seems as though a playoff push will weigh heavily on Hofstra’s shoulders in the upcoming weeks, as the lack of hustle and array of mistakes shown by the girls is a trend that must be stopped.
Riddiough felt that the poor play by Hofstra was due to a lack of “urgency” in the girls. “UNC Wilmington allowed our girls to slow the game down throughout the first half,” he said. “Therefore, when we let up the two quick sloppy goals, our girls could not build up any sense of urgency to try to start a comeback.”
On the other sideline, Seahawks head coach Paul Cairney was ecstatic with his girls’ play.
“We have not played this well all season,” Cairney said. “We played disciplined, ideal soccer and defended superbly.”
However, while the Seahawks certainly looked like a playoff team, Cairney will not let his girls get ahead of themselves. “Our team has never made the playoffs, but we are not looking that far into the future yet. Our only goal is to win the next game right now,” he said.
As for the goals on the Hofstra sideline? Riddiough is hoping that his girls will show a sense of urgency in their next two essential crucial games at James Madison and Virginia Commonwealth.
“We are at a pinnacle point in the season, and we need to want to win,” Riddiough said. “However, at this point, I do not know whether we do or not [want to win].”