View Notes as a PDFIT'S NOT HOW YOU START…The Southern Connecticut State University women's soccer team dropped its first two games of the year, a 3-2 overtime loss to LIU-Post and a 1-0 loss to Bridgeport. The Owls were outshot 28-19 and were awarded 12 fewer corner kicks than their opponents in the two games. Last year, the women started off the season 1-3 but reeled off five straight wins following the poor start.
THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT, ASSUMPTIONSCSU takes on the Assumption Greyhounds Saturday, September 12 at 4 p.m. in Worcester, Mass. The Greyhounds are 2-0 in the early stages of the season, having beaten Saint Anselm 2-0 and Saint Michael's 5-1. They were picked to finish second in the conference in the NE-10 preseason coaches' poll. All seven of their goals have come from different players, showing the diversity of their offense. Goalkeeper Emily Kuzma has saved nine of ten shots faced in the first two games – the Owls have 13 shots on goal in their first two games.
ALL-TIME VS. ASSUMPTIONThe Owls have an all-time record against Assumption of 12-6-1, including a 2-0 loss against the Greyhounds last year. SCSU's most recent win against Assumption came in 2012, a 2-1 victory.
THE PRESEASON NE-10 COACHES POLLThe Owls have been picked to finish fifth in the Northeast-10 Preseason Coaches' Poll. The team received 148 points.
2015 Northeast-10 Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Saint Rose - 195 (13)
2. Assumption - 171 (1)
3. Adelphi - 163 (1)
4. Franklin Pierce - 149
5. So. Connecticut - 148
6. American Int'l - 98
7. So. New Hampshire - 94
8. Saint Anselm - 90
9. Merrimack - 88
10. Pace - 87
11. New Haven - 85
12. Le Moyne - 84
13. Stonehill - 77
14. Saint Michael's - 29
15. Bentley – 17
(#) – indicates first-place votesÂ
IN SEASON OPENERSÂ The Owls are 15-3-1 in season openers.
LAST TIME WE SAW THEM......The Owls won the ECAC Tournament, beating Adelphi in penalty kicks. Prior to that, SCSU defeated Newberry College, 2-1, in the ECAC semifinals.Â
LOOKING BACK AT LAST SEASONSouthern Connecticut finished 2014 with an 11-6-2 record overall. The Owls averaged just over one goal per game and allowed just under one. The strength of the Owls was their defense, led by keeper
Erica Ridella. She allowed 17 goals in 19 games and saved 85-percent of shots she faced.
Caroline Staudle led the team with six goals and 12 points last year, followed by
Victoria Buonanni with five goals and
Kieran DeBiase with three.
THE CAPTAINSHead coach
Adam Cohen announced that senior
Betti Worth and juniors
Christine Allard and
Erica Ridella will captain the Owls this fall. They will all be first-year captains.
NICE TO SEE YOU AGAINSouthern Connecticut will return 10 out of 14 players who started 10 or more games last year, including its top three scorers: Staudle, Buonanni and DeBiase.
WELCOME TO THE CLUBThe Owls welcome 10 newcomers to the squad for the 2015 season, including freshmen
Megan Richardson,
Emily LePage,
Alyson Clarke,
Juliana Santos,
Taylor Bilyak,
Mikaela Magee,
Aaliyah Busby and
Nicole Cronin. The Owls also welcome transfers
Dolci Wagner and
Shannon Murphy.
LOOKING BACK AT 2014The Southern Connecticut State University women's soccer team was ranked as high as No. 3 in the NCAA East Region rankings in 2014.
HONORABLE OWLSSarah Brochu took home the most awards of anyone on the team last year, most notably being named the Defensive Player of the Year and as an NE-10 Conference First-Team honoree. Also named to the All-Conference teams were Keri DeBiase,
Erica Ridella,
Victoria Buonanni, and
Victoria Conde. DeBiase and Ridella were named Third-Team All-Conference, while Bounanni and Conde were named to the All-Rookie Team.
ON DECKThe Owls hit the road to face Saint Anselm on Wednesday, September 16 and return home to play Southern New Hampshire on Saturday, September 19.
