By By Amanda Guerriero
Edel Malone to Chrissy Arnone have combined for a perfect tandom early in this season and it continued this past weekend.
Malone played a perfect through ball to Arnone, who lured Northeastern University goalkeeper Mariel Wilner out of the box as she chipped the ball into an empty net, 15:57 into the second half.
Arnone’s goal-her second of the game-gave the Pride a 3-0 lead, which it held onto in the team’s first road victory of the season over the Northeastern in Boston last Saturday. With the win, the Pride (5-2-1, 1-0 CAA) secured its first win of Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play.
Arnone’s first goal came 10 minutes into the game and was made possible by who else but Malone. Malone lifted the ball over the Huskies defense and left Arnone one-on-one with the Wilner. Arnone, much like her second goal, placed the ball over Wilner’s head and into the net.
“Chrissy is a huge part of our attack,” head coach JoAnne Russell said after the victory. “She can run for 90 solid minutes, pass, shoot and create opportunities.”
Arnone made it apparent that she can do it all by contributing to all three goals against the Huskies. She had two goals and assisted on the other.
There is a definite connection between midfielders Arnone and Malone. Malone had both assists to Arnone’s goals on Saturday and it isn’t the first time these two players have worked together to create a goal scoring opportunity.
“Chrissy and Edel have been feeding off each other all season and are now putting goals in together,” Russell said. Only nine games into the season, it will be interesting to watch the chemistry grow and advance each game between these midfielders.
Malone was named the CAA Rookie of the Week for her performance on Saturday. In the past three games, the freshman has scored three goals and notched three assists. This moves her into second place in points for the Pride with 10, while she leads the CAA with four assists in eight games.
The Pride has proven to be a consistent team all around. “I think that we are definitely solid defensively,” Russell said. “However, offensively too, from the midfield up, we are really attacking the net.”
The Pride’s defense is very collected because of the offense’s ability to keep pressure off it. The defense is never left to fend for itself, as there is always someone from the offense back to help when needed.
Many of the goal scoring opportunities for the Pride begins with its goalkeeper, senior Becky Wachsberger. With 7:19 left in the first half, the Pride added an insurance goal that was originated when Wachsberger’s punt connected with the head of Arnone. Arnone was able to direct the ball behind the Huskies defense where Larkin Hargraves took two dribbles and scored left post to bring down the Huskies (3-5-1, 0-1) once again.
Something has changed from the first four road games that the Pride played to how it played on Saturday in Boston. “The intensity was much better than it has been,” Russell said. “They wanted the win more than they have before and they were going to get it.” That is the kind of attitude that a team needs to have in order to have success on the road.