By By Dave Diamond
After defeating James Madison University (JMU) 1-0 in overtime on Friday, the Pride put itself in fine position to gain the second seed in the upcoming Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) playoffs with a scoreless tie at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) on Sunday. The team’s unbeaten weekend, if followed by a win tomorrow night against Northeastern, will propel the team to a CAA Opening Round bye.
It’s the Pride’s defensive minded strategy that has carried its recent success. Not allowing a goal this weekend gives the Pride four consecutive shutouts, a testament to the wonderful defensive work from forwards and defenders alike.
However, head coach Richard Nuttall said extra credit should go out to the “back four” of Jason Gates, Gary Flood, Corey Gudmundson and Billy Chung, as well as goaltender Mattias Gumbrecht.
“I’ve got to give special praise to them because they’ve been outstanding,” Nuttall said. “They’ve been steadfast, they’ve been determined and they’ve been creative. It’s not easy to keep putting up shutouts against these top teams.”
It was certainly not an easy road for the Pride, as both JMU (10-5-2, 6-3-1 CAA) and VCU (6-8-3, 4-2-3) are also high up in the conference standings-third and fourth, respectively-behind Old Dominion (13-2-2, 8-1-1) and itself. In fact, Nuttall considers James Madison and ODU the most skilled teams in the CAA.
It took a clutch overtime goal by junior Arman Osooli to give the Pride (11-4-3, 6-2-2) a hard-fought victory Friday night. The game-winner was scored when senior Michael Todd played a long diagonal ball to midfielder Constantinos Christoudias. The junior took a quick dribble and blasted a shot from the top of the box that JMU goaltender Kevin Trapp stopped with a diving one handed save. Fortunately for the Pride, Osooli charged in on the weak side and easily tapped the rebound into the open net for the dramatic win.
Todd, the Pride’s leading scorer, played for the first time since suffering a hamstring injury earlier this month.
Gumbrecht continued his stellar senior season, making two diving saves in the second half to preserve the shutout and push the game to overtime. The Pride dominated play, out-shooting JMU, 19-4, including, 5-0, in the first half. Trapp also played well, keeping the Pride off the board, making six saves.
Gumbrecht’s momentum carried over in the Pride’s scoreless tie at VCU on Sunday. He tied a career high with his fourth straight shutout, matching last year’s feat that included every game of the CAA Tournament. Still, the Pride could not score a goal in support of its goaltender as the team fell victim to the goal post on three separate occasions.
Todd hit the post in the fourth minute of the game, and sophomore Chris Cox hit the crossbar twice. The first post came in the 39th minute, and the second, heartbreakingly, midway through the second overtime. The Pride put forth an offensive push throughout the second half and overtime looking for a win, but came up short. The team out-shot VCU, 10-2, after halftime.
If the Pride can get a win over Northeastern on Friday, the team clinches a first round bye in the tournament, something Nuttall said is vastly important.
Freshman defender Cory Gudmundson and the Pride defense played great this past weekend. (Photo Courtesy Athletic Dept.)