The Plattsburgh State women’s soccer team followed up a non-conference win against Clarkson by getting within one game of .500 in conference, beating Oswego and Cortland.
The Cardinals’ pair of wins brought their conference record to 2-3. Head coach Tania Armellino was glad to see her team deliver in a pair of games that had a must-win feel in relation to conference standings.
“The team just kept battling,” Armellino said. “I think this was some of the few games we’ve played with the most confidence, in a bit. They went out to win.”
PSUC outshot Oswego 30-14 in its 3-1 victory.
“We put them back on their heels,” Armellino said. “Oftentimes we sort of let teams come at us, and we’ve retreated. We’ve talked so much about coming out on the ‘front foot,’ and being the ones that have teams pinned a little bit.”
Freshman forward/midfielder Kirsten Villemaire scored two of the Cards’ goals in the win, with the other coming from junior forward Katie Matott.
“It felt really good to finally get back on a winning streak, and be a part of it,” Villemaire said. “We’ve put in a lot of work, and it’s starting to show.”
Villemaire and fellow freshman forward/midfielder Allison Seidman had multi-point weekends, with Seidman notching two assists against Oswego and a goal against Cortland.
The game against the Red Dragons was more of a defensive affair, with Seidman’s tally being the only one necessary, while Cortland just edged out PSUC on shots, 18-17.
The increased production from Seidman and Villemaire as they work with Matott at the top of the offense has been a welcome sight for Armellino.
“The three of them have done a really great job together,” Armellino said. “They’re just starting to see things click, and playing off of one another has worked really well. Them gaining that confidence together has made a big difference.”
The two wins brought graduate student goalie Taylor Adams’ win total to eight and her shutout total to five.
The Cards will have two more conference matchups this weekend, playing in Oneonta Friday before visiting New Paltz Saturday.
As conference play winds down, points in the standings will only get more important.
“We know we have to win, and we know we can,” sophomore defender Allie Boudreau said.
Armellino knows that if her team goes in and plays like it has recently, there’s a good chance they’ll be coming away with two wins.
“We need to get out and establish the tone that we want to play, and not leave it up to Oneonta, not leave it up to New Paltz,” Armellino said. “We just need to go and play the way we set out to play. Everything else will come after.”
