2008 Woodie Awards
Women's Soccer: Adjustments made to offense after star threat injured
Minutewomen lose Stoll for season
David Brinch, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 9/2/08 Section: Sports
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After a successful freshman season in which she played in every game, junior forward Sydney Stoll looked to build on that success for three more years.
As a sophomore, she started the first 11 games of last season and was forced to sit out the remainder, due to a collarbone injury that she suffered against Rhode Island on Oct. 11.
In the 21st minute, Stoll received a pass from a UMass defender, through the Rams defense. Stoll secured the ball, but URI goalie Jackie Fede came out of the box to make a save. Stoll left the game with a broken collarbone, an injury that would keep her out for the rest of the season.
The Minutewomen had to make adjustments on the offensive side of the ball, having to play some players up front with little to no game experience. The next four games, the Minutewomen were outscored 6-3 by A-10 opponents, losing all but one. The team was shut out in back-to-back games against Charlotte and Saint Louis, unable to get production from its other forwards.
Even though she missed the final six games, Stoll finished second on the team in scoring (15 points).
After the season, Stoll rehabbed in the winter and spring and prepared to pick up right where she left off last season. But in a turn for the worse, during her first game of rehab Stoll was again injured.
"She just got out of rehab when we played our first outdoor game against the touring Japanese all-star team," UMass coach Jim Rudy recalled. "She was on for four seconds, went full sprint into a challenge and blocked the ball and got sort of torqued sideways."
Stoll suffered a knee injury in the game and will likely redshirt the 2008 season.
"It's a big deficit for us," Rudy said. "It means now we are without our two leading scorers from last year. I can say honestly we would be much better at this point with her on the field. Everybody in the front is new."
With Stoll out for the second straight year, inexperienced players on the offensive side of the ball will have to step up and play like upperclassmen.
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