2008 Woodie Awards
Women's Soccer: Offense there vs. UNH, victory not
David Brinch, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 9/5/08 Section: Sports
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"I'm happy that we made progress and sad that we had a chance to win this one [and didn't]," UMass coach Jim Rudy said.
Playing with a depleted starting lineup due to injuries to junior forward Sydney Stoll and junior midfielder Meghan Gould, senior forward Vanessa Patry stepped up and scored two goals, both in the first half, for the Minutewomen (0-1-2).
"That's who Patry is," Rudy said. "We're going to expect a lot more like that, a few more two-goal games. She's a good player and you can see it in there. She's smart, she's technical and she works hard."
Along with Patry, sophomore midfielder Kelsey Anderson and redshirt senior midfielder Vanessa Lima were aggressive on the offensive front and helped UMass record 17 first-half shots against the visiting Wildcats (1-2-1).
The Minutewomen got their offense going early with through balls and crisp passing, putting pressure on the UNH defense right off the opening kickoff. In the 39th minute, Patry put a left-footed shot in the upper right hand corner off a pass from defender Katie Ruggles. The pass was Ruggles' first career assist, and gave the Minutewomen a 1-0 lead.
UMass' defensive unit was pushing up, trying to get another opportunity when the Wildcats caught a break.
Forward Julie O'Shaughnessy secured a left-footed pass from fellow forward Sara Hourihan and put a low shot past junior goalkeeper Lauren Luckey.
With the game tied at one, UMass continued to push its offense up, getting positive shots on goal. UNH goalkeeper Nikki Golding made back-to-back-to-back saves as the Minutewomen midfielders and forwards had great opportunities, but they either kicked the ball right to Golding, over the net or bounced off the post.
"We got to the net and did all the stuff we were talking about, but a combination of some misses and some great goalkeeping - and a post - [hurt us]," Rudy said.
Along with the solid goalkeeping, the Wildcats made seven substitutions throughout the game, allowing fresh players to come in and to set up new alignments.
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