By Joanna Venditto

The latest Northeast Regional coaches’ poll was released on September 21, pushing the Pride up three spots from last week. The Pride moved from seventh to the fourth in the rankings, leaving them tied with Syracuse University. Two weeks ago, the Pride was unranked, but after wins over Brown University and the University of Maine, the team shot into the top 10.

Freshman forward Carol Leurini was named the Colonial Athletic Association Women’s Soccer Rookie of the Week. Leurini currently leads her team in scoring with five goals on a mere 15 shot attempts this season. She has been an integral part of the Pride’s past two games, scoring two goals within three minutes of each other in the Pride’s September 16 match against Quinnipiac University, and scoring the game-winner of the September 19 match against Fairleigh Dickinson University.

A small ceremony was held for the Pride’s alumni players during the halftime of the September 19 game against Fairleigh Dickinson University. The crowd cheered as the team’s veteran players were announced and head coach JoAnne Russell looked on. Russell, who started the women’s soccer program in 1992 said, “It was good to see all of them. They had a great turnout.”

The Pride takes to the road this week for a September 24 game against Virginia Commonwealth University, followed by a September 26 game against the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. This is going to be a rough couple of games for the team, as coach Russell feels that, “VCU is always a tough team. We are always surprised when they don’t finish in first place.” Like VCU, UNC-Wilmington’s record is top notch, as it is currently 9-0 on the season.