Aaron Johnson – Sports Editor
A sharp wind ripped through Jess Dow Field on the chilly fall night. The Southern Connecticut State University women’s soccer team was looking to capture their 11th win of the season, but the Assumption Greyhounds had other plans. The Owls fell to Assumption in the regular season finale 2-0.
Southern was outshot by the Greyhounds 22-4 during the contest. The win improved Assumption’s record to 12-3 going into the NE-10 conference tournament. Head coach Adam Cohen said he is confident that his team will bounce back the same way that they have for the majority of the season.
“The girls have been tough all season,” he said. “So this is going to be no exception. They will rebound. They’ve rebounded all year. They’re resilient so they will that’s the type of people they are.”
The loss drops the Owls to 10-5-1 on the season. Southern and Assumption were both tied for most of the game. But two second half goals put the Greyhounds up for good. Cohen said limiting goals late in the matches will be key going forward for his team’s success.
“I think it comes down to us taking care of the ball,” he said. “And being accountable on the ball. If we have the ball the other team can’t score.”
Both Assumption goals came within two minutes of each other. Kelsey Imondi found the back of the net for her fourth goal of the season. Before Emily Hill would score for her third goal of the year. The Owls were shutout for the third time this season, but just the first time since Sept. 17. Sophomore goalkeeper Erica Ridella said she agrees with her coach and is not concerned with the team being able to bounce back heading into the postseason
“I mean we know we can come back when we’re down,” she said. “The beginning of the season is a perfect example. When we lost three games in a row and then came back and won seven straight. So we know we have the capability of coming back.”
Ridella was able to play well despite the two goals, saving 10 shots during the match. She said that keeping the lines of communication between each other will help them be more successful.
“The first one was an awkward angle,” Ridella said. “I tried to grab a hold of it but I knew I would be in the net so I think that my angle just had to be adjusted a little bit. And the second one we just need better communication between the back line. If we’re too close then it just falls apart.”
Final line from tonight’s women’s soccer match against Assumption pic.twitter.com/30Aoxkrk2V
— SCSU Athletics (@SCSU_Owls) October 30, 2014
Cohen said getting the team in the classroom and watching the film breaking down everything will be a key for them going forward into the NE-10 tournament.
“I think we’ll watch the video and we’ll learn a lot of things about how we defend,” he said. “I’ll know more about how we watch the video.”
Ridella said the Owls had their chances on goal, but they will just continue to pressure the goal and eventually good things will happen.
“Going forward,” she said. “We learn what we need to work on. We tried pushing LeAnn (DiSisto) up forward more so we’ll have to work on that since it was the first time we did it. So going forward now we know what to really focus on. We had chances on goal. The goalie was really good and was able to hold them. So we just have to keep shooting and hopefully they’ll come.”
Photo Credit: Aaron Johnson
