By Ron Egan
To call Sunday’s contest a must-win game for the Pride may very well have been the understatement of the season. With CAA-opponent Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in town, the Pride knew it needed to break out of its season-high three-game losing streak to capture its’ first conference win of the season. Season goals of post-season glory, started by a run in the CAA Tournament, could only be met if the Pride was able to win the remainder of its’ conference games, starting Sunday. Unfortunately for VCU, the Pride team that showed up for the match-up was not the team people had been seeing for the past couple of weeks. With crisp passing, tough team defense, and for the first time in weeks, timely finishing, the Pride dismantled the Rams 5-1 to give the team some life for the remainder of the season.
Pride head coach Kathy DeAngelis was quick to describe the match-up as “certainly a must-win game” for her youthful squad, and was pleased with the way in which her team executed the game plan.
“Our game plan was really to play our up-tempo style,” DeAngelis said. “In addition to the attack, we also wanted to put on a big press. We succeeded, and that generated our attack.”
For the Pride, the high-powered offense produced a season-high five goals, the most a Pride team had scored in a single contest since a 7-0 victory over Colgate University in the 2002 season. Leading the way for the Pride was sophomore Doni-Melissa Jantzen, whose two goals in the contest give her seven for the season, currently the team lead.
“Coming off three straight losses, we were physched for the VCU game,” Jantzen said. “We were at home on our turf, and knew we couldn’t let them beat us.”
Unfortunately for the Pride, the game actually began as the last had ended, with an opponent’s goal. Just 7:56 into the game, Ram freshman Jenna Harris tipped a ball past Pride goaltender Jessica Cowperthwait to put her team up 1-0.
Unlike past games however, the Pride did not let an early goal knock them off of its game plan. The team marched down the field, thanks to some timely passing, and less then one minute later, knotted the match-up with freshman and two-time CAA rookie of the week Pemba Ramdoo’s fifth goal of the season.
The game-plan of an active attack continued to be put into play by the Pride, as Jantzen scored her first goal of the game less then three minutes later. Classmate Kara McEneaney fired a shot at Ram netminder Becca Leuzzi, and as the rebound bounced towards the circle, Jantzen tipped it into the back of the cage to put the Pride up 2-1. The onslaught continued, as two minutes later, the Pride put the ball in the back of the cage for the third time in under 10 minutes.
McEneaney fired a pass into the circle, and after a tip by Jantzen, junior Katherine Kotowski one-timed a shot past Leuzzi to increase the lead to 3-1. The goal was Kotowski’s second of the season.
The final goal of the half came less then five minutes later, as Jantzen scored her second and final goal of the game with an unassisted stroke that found its way to the back of the cage. With that, the Pride’s lead swelled to 4-1, and VCU head coach Shelly Behrens had seen enough. Leuzzi was pulled from the contest in favor of freshman Brittany LoVullo. In the 18:50 that Leuzzi played, she allowed an putrid four goals, and only recorded two saves.
The action continued for the Pride, as it stayed on attack for much of the remainder of the half. Unable to score again, the team was estatic to take the 4-1 lead to the half.
In a second half that saw little action in comparison to the first, the Pride defense excelled, shutting down the potent VCU attack. The Pride held the Rams’ attack to only four shots in the entire half. Freshman Carlot Verloop, the leading scorer in the conference heading into the match-up, was held shotless for the contest, as the defense led by Sara Gonzalez, Sekayi Liburd and Katie Geissler refused to allow the team to be beaten. DeAngelis applauded the overall team concept the defense shares, as it was able to shut down the Rams without having to individually mark.
The final goal of the contest was scored by senior Alexandra Alonge, her sixth goal of the season. With VCU playing five forwards late in the contest, DeAngelis took a risk, keeping Alonge deep in the Ram territory with the hope of a potential breakaway oppurtunity. The 50/50 risk paid off for the coach, as Geissler fired a 20-yard pass to a wide open Alonge, who streaked down the remaining 40 yards on the field to score the final goal of the contest, an acrobatic reverse flip. DeAngelis was quick to applaud Alonge for her work ethic on the field.
“Alex clearly showed, in the VCU game and others, that she can finish under pressure,” DeAngelis said. “She does have great confidence, and it is contagious. It has certainly helped push our team to a higher level.”
The Pride defense held off the Rams for the remaining few minutes of the game to keep the score at 5-1. With the victory, the Pride improves to 8-6, (1-3 CAA). The loss drops the Rams to 8-5 (1-3). The edge in shots and penalty corners was held by the Pride, 16-9 and 9-6, respectively. Cowperthwait recorded three saves to complete the team effort by the defense, allowing only one goal in the contest.
The Pride is in action tomorrow, as Sacred Heart University arrives at Shuart Stadium looking to avenge a hard-fought 2-1 loss last season at the hands of the Pride. Following the contest, the Pride finds itself with three remaining games, all in-conference. According to DeAngelis, her team only has one option for those games.
“We need to stay consistent, in order to play our game,” DeAngelis said. “We must go undefeated.”

Senior midfielder Sara Gonzalez looks to make a pass during the Pride´s 2-0 loss against James Madison University last Friday. (STAFF PHOTO)