By By Amanda Guerriero
The Pride’s women’s soccer team hasn’t been undefeated in eight straight games in more than 10 seasons. Now, it has.
In 1994, the Pride went on two separate eight-game win streaks during the season, but that fact is irrelevant for the current players. However, last Sunday the Pride tied this single-season school record by ending its three-game road trip with an impressive victory.
The Pride beat the George Mason University (GMU) Patriots at George Mason Stadium, 3-1, which increased the Pride’s record to 9-2-1 on the season and an undefeated 5-0 during Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play.
The game against GMU was the third and final of the Pride’s three-game road swing, its longest of the season. Earlier in the week, the Pride defeated Towson University, 1-0, and the University of Delaware, 2-0. Both of these games weren’t characteristic of the high intensity offense the Pride has been displaying all season, but it fixed that problem on Sunday.
“I think that in this particular game, compared to the last two [road games] that we played, we worked very hard and we were really successful at it,” Pride head coach JoAnne Russell said. “That is what we have to do from here on out.”
Patriots’ midfielder Danielle McDonald put in a goal late in the second half off a cross by Jessica Paris, which was the first the Pride had allowed in its first five CAA games. The Pride’s defense is not easily penetrable, but somehow GMU found a small crack in the foundation and capitalized on it to cut the Pride lead to 2-1. The only upside to the goal was that it took the Patriots 76 minutes to find this opening in the defense.
Freshman midfielder Edel Malone had two goals in the first half of Sunday’s game and senior midfielder Amber Albrecht contributed two assists. Malone’s second goal was unassisted and came with less than eight minutes to play in the half. Malone gathered a rebound from Patriot goalkeeper Kasey Davenport after a free kick and buried it in the back of the net.
Malone’s first goal was a 10-yard shot to the right corner after a nicely placed pass from Albrecht. Malone’s two goals brings her total to seven on the season, which ties her for first on the team with senior midfielder Chrissy Arnone. Malone, named CAA Rookie of the Week for two consecutive weeks, is only a freshman, but is proving to be an irreplaceable asset to the attack and success of the Pride.
With less than six minutes left in the game, junior Nina Nanavrakis scored her first goal of the season with the help of Albrecht, her second assist of the game. Nanavrakis has had many close calls all season, hitting the post a few times. It finally paid off in the end for Nanavrakis, as she helped the Pride add an insurance goal to make it 3-1, after the team had allowed its first goal in three weeks.
The Pride may be on an eight-game winning streak, but there is no guarantee that the streak will continue this weekend when it takes on the College of William & Mary and Old Dominion University (ODU), both of whom are 4-1 in conference play. In the last five meetings between the Pride and William & Mary over the last three seasons, the Blue & Gold lost four of those meetings, but this season could be different.