Oct. 3, 2005
NEW YORK, N.Y. - Captains Courtney Nasshorn and Meghan Hurlbut reflect on the season thus far.
MEGHAN HURLBUT- With 10 games already under our belt, the women's soccer team is optimistic about the season. We are now four weeks into our season and with a group of 11 newcomers we are really starting to mesh.
We began the season extremely excited and pumped up, especially to start off with a tournament at home. Our season opener was against Quinnipiac, a hard fought game where we dominated statistically, but couldn't seem to pull out the win, falling 1-0. However, this was not the worst part of the night for us. About 20 minutes into the game, the unthinkable happened, my fellow captain and 2nd team All-Ivy forward Shannon Munoz broke her toe. After the devastating loss, we came back out to finish the tournament with a win against Bucknell. However, with this win came another injury that greatly affected the team. Junior defender Emma Judkins sprained her ankle, and was not be able to compete in California the following weekend. After adjusting to the realization of both Shannon and Emma's injuries, some tactical adjustments were made on the field, forcing others to step up including, freshmen Yasha MacDonald, Jenny Brandt and Drew Effler.
The next weekend, right after classes began, we traveled to Irvine, California to compete in a tournament at UC Irvine. In our first game, we fought extremely well against a big, strong UC Irvine team and came out with a 0-0 tie. Unfortunately, we didn't come out with as much aggressiveness on Sunday and lost to UC Riverside. Upon returning to the city from California, we learned that we would play the rest of the season without Shannon Munoz, last year's team leader in scoring and points. Upon hearing the upsetting news, we as a group knew we had to pull it together and make adjustments all over the field to make up for the loss. After that, when Emma Judkins returned, we went on a three-game winning streak, beating Manhattan, Wagner and American.
Without Shannon, every player on the team must raise their level of play both physically and mentally. However, this is merely a hurdle that as a group, we are overcoming. As we approach the heart of the Ivy League season, we look to show the rest of the Ivy League that we are not to be overlooked. We are a strong group of athletes with a will to win, a love for each other and a love for the game. That is not a dynamic that can be easily broken. Go Lions!
COURTNEY NASSHORN- Our team is heading into the second and most important half of the season. Our first Ivy League game against Cornell last Friday was really disappointing because we were equally matched for most of the game and lost by one goal. We went into that game planning to build on our three game winning streak that had followed a rocky start to the season due to various injuries. Bailey and Emma came back strong from their injuries and raised the team's level higher. Shannon however, whose injury turned out to be much worse than we thought, recently had to get surgery. Shannon is irreplaceable and her presence on the field is truly missed, with that said, many players needed to step up to fill the void, and they have.
Other noteworthy players are Meghan, Cassie and Aubrey, because they are consistently solid in their positions. Also, Jana's return to our squad has not only helped us out in scoring goals, but has contributed in leadership and experience both on and off the field. Even with our two one-goal losses this past weekend, team morale remains high and we were totally focused on winning our game this Friday night against Brown. Thanks to our two weekend trips early this season, the team bonded very quickly and all the new players have fit right in.
