By Denver Louis
One word comes to mind when describing the ultra-competitive Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) women’s soccer playoffs. Parity.
This post-season has one of the most balanced fields of competitors in recent CAA history. Each has one five conference games and in the final tally of points, each team was separated by just two points which dictated their seedings. The field was so tight, had top-seeded Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) lost to the College of William & Mary (W&M), it would have the sixth seed. Both the Pride and VCU will share the CAA title after both squads posted 6-3 conference records. VCU gets the top seed because it won the tiebreaker with a 1-0 overtime victory over the Pride.
It’s been an exciting season for JoAnne Russell’s team, which reached a 12-win season for the fifth time in the last six years. So how did the Pride get here once again? A balanced team effort contributed to this.
The Pride’s last game against Drexel University, junior Midfielder Chrissy Arnone stepped up in a big way and captured the Brine CAA co-player of the week award. Within the opening ten minutes, Arnone simply set the field on fire as she scored three goals in a span of 3:19 and assisted on the Pride’s fourth goal. With her hat trick, Arnone leads the Pride in regular season scoring with eight goals and 20 points. The fact that Arnone had tallied just one goal and one assist in her previous two season combined, it’s safe to say this former walk-on is having a breakout year.
This win finally ended the Pride’s recent history of close finishes by one-point margins. The Pride thoroughly handled Drexel, tallying its highest scoring total since the 2002 opening game against Eastern Michigan University. Coincidentally that was the last time a Pride player had a hat trick (senior defender Brigit Canle).
By halftime the Pride was sitting pretty with a 5-0 lead going into the locker room. With just 7:46 into the second half the Pride scored again on a penalty kick from Bizzozaro, her second of the game and sixth of the season. With 17:31 left in the game, Drexel did manage to score on a goal from Stacey Blevins. Senior goalkeeper Becky Wachsberger, had two saves and did not allow a goal in 62 minutes. Pride backup goalkeeper, Lydia Holmberg also got into the action as she had three saves in the game’s final 28 minutes.
After a tight regular season race which game down to the very last games of the season, the Pride is set to make a deep run into this years playoffs. Here’s a look at the playoff picture.
1. Virginia Commonwealth (VCU) (6-3, 18 points) (13-6 overall, 6-3 in CAA)
The Rams finished strong with big wins over Old Dominion (2-0) and William & Mary (3-0) last week to narrowly earn the No. 1 seed. The Rams went 9-0 at home and increased their shutouts to 11 on the season. A large part of their team is senior forward Jen Parsons who leads the CAA in goals (15) and points (37) and is fourth in assists (7) this season. The Rams hope to take their winning ways a little further than last year, where they lost to William and Mary in the championship.
2. Pride (6-3, 18 points) (12-5-1 overall, 6-3 in CAA)
3. William & Mary (5-2-2, 17 points) (9-5-4 overall, 5-2-2 in CAA)
The Tribe begin defense of their title with a No. 3 seed. Senior forward, Taline Tahmassian team scoring leader with 10 goals, drew a red card versus VCU and will sit out the Tribe’s first game of the CAA Championship. But how’s this for a crazy stat? The Tribe has won seven of the past eight CAA Championships, including last year’s.
4. James Madison University (5-2-2, 17 points) (10-6-3 overall, 5-2-2 in CAA)
The Dukes received the four seed after victories over the University of Delaware and Towson University. The Dukes have won four in a row and five of their last six. Against Delaware, junior goalkeeper Jessica Hussey had five saves and recorded her fifth shutout of the season. Defensively the Dukes have not allowed more than a goal in their last five games.
5. George Mason University (5-2-2, 17 points) (10-6-3 overall, 5-2-2 in CAA)
The Patriots, much like the JMU and VCU posted two straight victories this weekend going into the playoffs. The Patriots, who are unbeaten in their last seven games (5-0-2), and have won four in a row for the first time since 1998. They haven’t achieved this year’s ten-win mark since 2000. Once again they play JMU, whom they haven’t beaten in two straight CAA championship meetings.
6. Old Dominion University (5-3-1, 16 points) (9-7-2 overall, 5-3-1 in CAA)
The Lady Monarchs beat UNC Wilmington for a 2-1 win at on Saturday to earn their first CAA Championship berth since 2001. Junior forward Lauren Beeman’s has 10 goals on the season and she ranks fourth in the CAA with 26 points. The Lady Monarchs face William & Mary who they beat 2-1 in overtime during the regular season, which coincidentally was the Lady Monarchs’ first win in 14 tries with the Tribe.
Action begins on Tuesday, Nov. 2 (opening round) with No. 5 George Mason at No. 4 James Madison and No. 6 Old Dominion at No. 3 William & Mary. And on Friday, Nov. 5 (Semifinals at VCU), the winner of the ODU/W&M game play No. 2 Pride and the GMU/JMU winner play No. 1 Virginia Commonwealth. The championship will be played Sunday at VCU. All times are to be announced.