The Plattsburgh State Women’s soccer team extended its losing streak to three games with a 2-0 loss to St. Lawrence University Tuesday.
The first 30 minutes of play saw both teams trade chances before the Saints (6-0-1) pulled away, ending with the Cardinals (5-4) being heavily outshot 25 to 11 on the game.
“We talk a lot as a team about keeping our composure, and that’s what’s gotten us these last few games,” head coach Tania Armellino said. “You move the ball so well for 30 minutes, and you look outstanding, and then one mistake and you drop off. It’s a shame.”
That one mistake came in the 38th minute when St. Lawrence notched its first tally.
St. Lawrence’s Marge Terhune’s sharp-angle shot off of a corner-kick was deflected by a PSUC defender before going up and over graduate student goalie Taylor Adams’ outstretched hands and into the Cards’ net.
“I think that sometimes we may get in our heads a little bit when we get scored on, but we’re working on trying to play with confidence and just play our game,” senior forward Jess Reid said. “When we don’t we tend to lose it.”
The first half ended with the Saints leading 12-3 in shots.
St. Lawrence’s other tally came at 60:58 when Katie Clemmer put a high shot just out of Adams’ reach.
By the end of 90 minutes, Adams had made 15 saves, including several diving saves in the second half to keep the team within reach.
After citing it as an issue against both Brockport and Geneseo over the weekend, Armellino noted that giveaways on the attack was a problem once again.
“We need to be more dynamic and more composed when we have the ball,” Armellino said. “We need to be able to find the runners when they make the runs, and we’re just going to keep working on that.”
Freshman forward/midfielder Allison Seidman was a bright spot on an offence that was more than doubly outshot. Her four shots, two of which were on goal, led the team, and her speedy rushes with the ball provided some signs of life later in the game.
“She obviously has the gift of speed, there’s no doubt about that,” Armellino said. “I love that she keeps trying to make things happen and keeps trying to break through. One of the things we still need to get down is our ability to connect with each other. She’ll start getting the results.”
This Saturday’s 1 p.m. home game against the Potsdam Bears will be the second Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome awareness game. The team will be hosting a tailgate party at Buffalo Wild Wings post-game. Ten percent of everyone’s bill will go to Dysautonomia International to assist people living with various forms of dysautonomia, of which POTS is one.
Aside from raising awareness for the circulatory disorder that PSUC soccer alumna Cait Gagen has to deal with, the game has important stakes for the SUNYAC standings as well,
After last weekend’s games, the Cards are sitting on an 0-2 conference record, while the Bears are 1-1. Armellino knows that her team can’t afford to slip into a bigger hole.
Luckily for PSUC, several injured players look like they could be returning, including standout freshman Kirsten Villemaire, who scored three goals in her first five games.
“It’s a must-win,” Armellino said. “I’m really hoping we can be firing on all cylinders for the first time in a couple weeks, get most of our injured back and get us rolling again.”
