By By Amanda Guerriero
Working on less than 24 hours rest, the Old Dominion University (ODU) Monarchs weren’t the only thing working against the Pride women’s soccer team.
After playing just one day before, fatigue and cramps played a role in the way the team performed. As if these factors weren’t enough to slow down the Pride, it battled gusting winds ranging from 20-28 throughout the game.
The Pride battled all three of these things and won, as it continued its winning streak with a 1-0 victory over ODU (10-4, 4-3 CAA), on Sunday afternoon. The Pride, meanwhile, extended its record to a perfect 7-0 in the conference and 11-2-1 overall.
For the first time in school history, the Pride had to endure the grueling task of playing on back-to-back days. Both of these games were crucial in determining the standings in the conference because depending on the outcome of these games, the Pride could have ended up anywhere from first to fourth place.
Besides a victory for the Pride, Saturday’s game against William & Mary was important for the confidence of the team, which had lost four of the last five games to the Tribe.
“They have always been our nemesis, they’ve kicked us out [of the CAA tournament] twice,” Pride head coach JoAnne Russell said. “I think we sent them a message.”
Coming off such a big victory for both the standings and confidence of the Pride, the team was able to pull off the win against the Monarchs the following day.
“Those two victories are huge and those were probably our toughest competition yet,” Russell said.
Sunday’s game was slow-paced and not very intriguing. The only goal of the game was scored in the 76th minute by Pride senior midfielder Amber Albrecht. After receiving a pass from Chrissy Arnone, Albrecht dribbled across the penalty box and through two ODU defenders before slipping it passed the freshman goalkeeper Colby Owen for her fourth goal of the year.
“It was really a challenge, but the girls did what they were told and what they were supposed to do,” Russell said. “They were tired, but they marched on. They refused to lose.”
It may not have been the best game the Pride has ever played, but it took an extreme amount of extra effort.
For the whole first half, ODU was forced the Pride into a lot of ill-advised passes. It could not penetrate the 18-yard box and the Pride could not get and keep numbers up on the offense. For the first half and for much of the game, the match up was pretty even. It was easy to tell the Pride wasn’t playing up to par, but still pulled out the victory because it capitalized on its biggest opportunity late in the second half.
“Physically it is always tough to play two games back-to-back like that and it was also emotionally draining because they were both two top teams,” Albrecht said. “But it all came down to heart and desire and we got it done.”
The Pride deserves recognition for its heart and never-say-die attitude. It played winded, but stillfound a way to win the game.
Although the game wasn’t the most riveting ever played, it was an interesting display of how strong winds can affect a game for both teams.
The Pride has four games to play and is hoping to improve on its 10-game winning streak. “There have been a lot of upsets,” Russell said when asked about the upcoming three games before the final game of the season against Virginia Commonwealth University, which is hot on the Pride’s heels in the CAA standings. “If we come out to play I don’t think there’s a team in the conference that can beat us.”
“I think we can definitely win the conference and as far as the tournament, we’ve never gotten a bid,” Albrecht added. “I hope that this is the year we can do it though. If we continue to play the way that we have been playing, anything is possible.”
The Pride plays tomorrow night at Georgia State University (1-6) and on Sunday at UNC Wilmington (2-5) as it tries to improve on the success that it has been building all season.