By Justin Rushia
With two opportunities to prove itself on its home turf, the Plattsburgh State women’s soccer team failed to protect its nest.
Frary, though, isn’t pressing the panic button just yet — she said the Cardinals are still learning about themselves before the SUNYAC season starts tomorrow.
The Cardinals (1-5-0) took the pitch against Skidmore (3-0-1) on Wednesday, Sept. 7, and RIT (3-0-2) on Saturday, Sept. 14, for two non-conference games where they came away scoreless.
“We’re playing a really hard schedule while also trying to figure out our identity with the players we have,” head coach Whitney Frary said. “I think we have seen some great improvement, and now it’s just moving forward.”
Plattsburgh had its work cut out for it against Skidmore. The Thoroughbreds came into the game undefeated, averaging 2.5 goals per game and allowing 0.75.
The Cardinals came out with high energy against Skidmore, pressing the Thoroughbred defense early and often, earning themselves a corner kick 51 seconds into the game.
The game started with high-intensity back-and-forth play, with neither team finding the back of the net.
Goalkeeper Lauren Haley played a large part in Plattsburgh’s scoreless first half, making impressive save after impressive save to keep the sheet clean.
In the 28th minute of the first half, the Cardinals had another opportunity to score with two consecutive corners.
The sequence concluded with defender Amy Crowley taking a powerful shot on goal that looked destined to go in, only to be saved by the Skidmore keeper.
Plattsburgh finished the half with six total shots to Skidmore’s 10, none of which found the net, making the score at half 0-0.
“We often wait for the perfect pass to score. In reality, we just need to keep getting numbers up front to increase scoring opportunities,” Haley said.
The Cardinals’ clean sheet was snapped only 97 seconds into the second half when Skidmore’s Ella Stone put one past Haley and into the back of the net.
Ella Stone continued her offensive barrage, adding another goal just five minutes later by heading the ball into the corner of the net past Haley. Stone completed her hat trick 10 minutes later after securing her brace.
Team captain and standout midfielder for the Cardinals Jess Mare went down in the second half with “really bad cramping,” according to Frary.
Plattsburgh lost the shot battle 7 to 20. The Cardinals also finished the game with only seven shots on goal to Skidmore’s 10.
Haley finished the game with seven saves, many of them being of great difficulty.
Plattsburgh finished off their week with another chance to prove themselves in front of a home crowd against RIT.
The game began with both teams showcasing their grit and strong defense. RIT took the first shot five minutes into the game, but Haley saved it.
That one shot initiated RIT’s control of offensive possession, taking seven more shots in the first half while preventing the Cardinals from taking a single shot.
The second half picked up just as the first left off, with RIT dominating possession of the ball. Five minutes into the second half, RIT scored its first and only goal.
Plattsburgh midfielder Alexis Patrick took the team’s first and only shot at the 56-minute mark.
Plattsburgh’s defense remained strong for the remainder of the game, not conceding any further goals.
RIT fired away 12 total shots in the second half, tallying for 20 total.
“Between the two games, I think there definitely was an improvement in our defending, and I think that we’re still tweaking some things just to make sure that we get to a point that we need to be at for SUNYAC play,” Frary said.
Haley once again performed exceptionally in goal for Plattsburgh, making eight saves and limiting the Tigers to just one goal. During the game, Haley surpassed 150 career saves.
The Cardinals are still confident in their ability to make a strong push in the SUNYAC and a potential NCAA tournament appearance.
“To make the tournament, I think our route has become the one route of winning SUNYAC, but I definitely think we can still do it,” Frary said.
Plattsburgh’s next game will be its SUNYAC opener at Fredonia (4-3-0) on Saturday, Sept. 21.
“Everyone loves to win. But I think that we’re still, you know, pushing forward. The belief is still there,” Frary said, “I think we’re still trying to put pieces together, but we have some really great leadership, and I think that’s been really pulling us through.”
