By Christian Heimall, Staff Writer
In the early spring of 2010 Simon Riddiough had a big problem. The Hofstra women’s soccer coach was without a starting goalkeeper for the coming fall after Kylie Schuster tore her ACL in the spring season.
“We were scrambling,” said Riddiough recalling the search to find a replacement. “I checked my old emails, found [Emily Morphitis’] email…she hadn’t committed to anybody so she came in last minute.”
As most coaches do, Riddiough sent out numerous feelers to acquire a new net minder for this year. Then he ran into another problem. A great problem: Krista Thorn. The senior from Smithtown, NY was a seasoned athlete, but for the Hofstra softball team that competed in this past years NCAA Tournament.
“Originally, I was thinking of Thorn as a backup just in case,” Riddiough explained. “To be honest my aspirations where to have [Morphitis] be the immediate starter with Thorn pulling double duty with softball in the fall season and us.”
Instead, Thorn and freshman Emily Morphitis have been splitting time in the cage all season long. The two have combined for an impressive 1.26 goals against average, leading the Pride to a 6-1 record and a ranking in the top 50 in the country.
Thorn transferred to Hofstra in 2009 from Iona where she played softball as well as being the goalkeeper for the women’s soccer team. Here in Hempstead, the senior has spent the last two years strictly on the diamond as a utility infielder. In 21 games this past spring for Hofstra softball head coach Bill Edwards, she accumulated a .226 batting average being a key reserve for a team that advanced to the NCAA Regionals in Tuscon, AZ back in May.
“He was perfectly alright with me doing both sports,” says Thorn of Edwards. “He was very happy for me and just said ‘Go have fun, I know you’re going to do great.”
But being two years removed from playing collegiate soccer, there was some hesitation with giving Thorn some playing time right off the bat. “Immediately you saw a lot of confidence, a lot of leadership and a lot of maturity,” Riddiough said. “As the preseason went along you saw how athletic she was. I’m extremely surprised and pleasantly surprised to see how good she is.”
Thorn herself has played in all seven games this season for the Pride including four starts. Despite mainly splitting time, minor injuries to Morphitis gave Thorn the chance to play the full contest twice en route to a personal 1.06 GAA and one full shutout. Being out of the game for two whole seasons, Thorn says it was her timing that took the longest to come back. Now she has seen herself get back to a competitive edge but also improve on a key aspect of her position.
“My decision making has gotten much better,” Thorn said. “In the beginning I was very hesitant with things. I had to build up the confidence back there and now I’m starting to make better decisions back there.”
As conference season approaches for the Pride, a team picked by the coaches to finish second in the preseason, Thorn’s quick rise back to the top of her game is putting Coach Riddiough in a strange position.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever considered splitting time at goalkeeper this late in the season,” said Riddiough, as Hofstra prepares for James Madison on Friday. “Hopefully one steps up above the other and if they do they will be excellent.”
As for Thorn, she knows that her physical ability at Hofstra Softball Stadium may not have a profound effect on her game just down the road at Hofstra Soccer Stadium, but she also understands her mental skills will be one of her biggest benefits.
“Both teams that I play for want the same thing,” said Thorn. “We all want to succeed, we all want the same thing. It’s just the mentality that I don’t want to let the girls down. That’s what keeps me going.”
Her teammates on the pitch hope Thorn will keep herself and the team going to where she has already been this calendar year: the NCAA Tournament.