By Ed Morrone

Heading into the conference schedule this weekend with a wounded roster, the women’s soccer squad will look to construct a winning potion with two main ingredients: aggressiveness on offense and a little bit of luck.With a slew of injuries and graduating seniors ravaging the team, those reasons are the only reason the Pride has stayed afloat with a 4-3-1 non-conference clip. This past weekend, Hofstra pushed past host Fordham with some come from behind magic. After Katie Sanchez put Fordham in front at the 14-minute mark, the Pride stayed aggressive on offense, pressuring the Rams constantly. When the defense let up Hofstra went for the kill, getting an unassisted goal from Diane Caldwell to tie the score and a header off a corner from Kariena Richards in the 81st minute to win the game. On Sunday, the ball didn’t bounce the Pride’s way. Against Fairleigh Dickinson, freshman Jill Lipari put the team up early but FDU quickly tallied the equalizer and the game ended in a tie. In the contest, the Pride hit the crossbar several time, a branch of luck that will need to go the other way if the team is to be successful against Towson tomorrow night.”This is the first weekend so far where we’ve had great opportunities to win games,” head coach Simon Riddiough said. “We’ve always been solid defensively, but this was the first weekend where we created a lot of shots and chances. “You always need a bit of luck and hope the ball bounces your way, but as long as you create the chances it’s going to happen eventually.”Hofstra did create enough chances and thus escaped the weekend without a loss, but as commendable as the team has been so far, it will need to be better as it prepares to open up CAA play as defending champions. Last season, the Pride, backed by a class of fantastic seniors, went 14-4-3 (8-1-2 CAA) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. However, the seniors are gone now and other key players are down with injuries, so it will be on the remaining veterans and young players to step up if the team wants to equate last season.”It’s just like anything else, you find other ways to be successful,” Riddiough said. “Last year’s team was awesome and it was a great experience, but there’s no reason why this team can’t emulate that or even better it. I expect us to win the CAA Tournament and I expect us to get to the NCAA First Round.Riddiough, a Hofstra soccer mainstay and associate head coach on last season’s team, is just the right person for the job. A four-year player at Hofstra from 1990-94 and an assistant on the women’s team until this year, he knows how to make a team succeed even in the face of adversity. With Towson (4-2-1) looming, the first conference game will be a good test to gauge exactly how well the Pride will fare this season without the graduate seniors and former coach JoAnne Russell, who retired after 16 years at program’s helm. Towson, by the way, is coming off an 8-0 shellacking of Howard on Sunday.”We’re cautiously confident I would say, Riddiough said. “We know our strengths and weaknesses and we can compete with anyone when we play well.”Whatever the case, tomorrow night (and Sunday afternoon against George Mason) will be a big night for the new-look women’s team.”It’s going to be a big night for a lot of these players,” Riddiough said. “It’s going to be intense, they know it’s going to be a battle and I think they’re prepared for it.”

The upcoming game with Towson will test the Lady Pride’s strength