2008 Woodie Awards
Women's Soccer: UMass seeks first win in home opener
Minutewomen host UNH in 2008 home opener
David Brinch, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 9/4/08 Section: Sports
The Massachusetts women's soccer team has a knack for starting off its season the right way at home.
The Minutewomen (0-1-1) are 22-8 in home openers and last season defeated Iona, 2-1, giving UMass coach Jim Rudy his 300th career win.
UMass also had eleven consecutive home-opening wins before its first defeat in 1989, dominating teams that traveled to Amherst for the start of the season.
But with top offensive threats Sydney Stoll and Meghan Gould sidelined with injuries, the Minutewomen will look to create more offense with a starting line-up that features just one returning starter from a year ago.
"That's a lot of firepower that's gone now, so we are trying to figure out how that works," Rudy said.
The Maroon and White will open its home 2008 season when it hosts New Hampshire today at 4:30 p.m. The Wildcats are coming off a stellar 2007 campaign where they finished with an 11-7-2 overall record and 6-1-1 in the America East Conference.
"I hope we can score some goals," Rudy said. "I took a look at last years starting line-up. This year we have one person who is in their position from last year. Everyone else has been shifted, or some one new has come in."
Rudy also has a very young team; 12 of the 22 players are underclassman including eight new freshmen. These players will look to have some sort of impact during the season. He has used the same starting line-up in both games, with five seniors, two juniors and four sophomores securing starting positions.
On Aug. 29th, the Minutewomen could not come up with any goals against Maine, but were able to stabilize the defense, playing to a 0-0 tie. Maine (1-2-0) outshot UMass, 8-6, with four of the Black Bears shots coming in the first half. The Minutewomen held advantages in corners as well as fouls, and Rudy feels that the team is playing good fundamental soccer.
"We are doing pretty well with the ball," Rudy said. "There's some skill out there, some deception and combination play, but it's our final ball, and that's typical for a team that's played in, it's harder to create scoring."
The Minutewomen (0-1-1) are 22-8 in home openers and last season defeated Iona, 2-1, giving UMass coach Jim Rudy his 300th career win.
UMass also had eleven consecutive home-opening wins before its first defeat in 1989, dominating teams that traveled to Amherst for the start of the season.
But with top offensive threats Sydney Stoll and Meghan Gould sidelined with injuries, the Minutewomen will look to create more offense with a starting line-up that features just one returning starter from a year ago.
"That's a lot of firepower that's gone now, so we are trying to figure out how that works," Rudy said.
The Maroon and White will open its home 2008 season when it hosts New Hampshire today at 4:30 p.m. The Wildcats are coming off a stellar 2007 campaign where they finished with an 11-7-2 overall record and 6-1-1 in the America East Conference.
"I hope we can score some goals," Rudy said. "I took a look at last years starting line-up. This year we have one person who is in their position from last year. Everyone else has been shifted, or some one new has come in."
Rudy also has a very young team; 12 of the 22 players are underclassman including eight new freshmen. These players will look to have some sort of impact during the season. He has used the same starting line-up in both games, with five seniors, two juniors and four sophomores securing starting positions.
On Aug. 29th, the Minutewomen could not come up with any goals against Maine, but were able to stabilize the defense, playing to a 0-0 tie. Maine (1-2-0) outshot UMass, 8-6, with four of the Black Bears shots coming in the first half. The Minutewomen held advantages in corners as well as fouls, and Rudy feels that the team is playing good fundamental soccer.
"We are doing pretty well with the ball," Rudy said. "There's some skill out there, some deception and combination play, but it's our final ball, and that's typical for a team that's played in, it's harder to create scoring."
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