By JACKSON WANG
Sports Editor
The Saint Rose women’s soccer team lost a good number of players this past season due to graduation, but good teams don’t rebuild, they reload and the Golden Knights did just that this past off-season.
The Saint Rose women’s soccer began their 2011 campaign with a strong win in a non-conference game against New York Institute of Technology last Thursday night at Sullivan Field at the Plumeri Sports Complex. The Golden Knights defeated the Bears in a 10-0 rout.
The Golden Knights attacked right from the get go and that lead to an early goal by Sophomore midfielder Sydney Bond with a header from a corner seven minutes into the game. In the 23rd minute, Bond delivered an assist to Freshman forward Brittany Barry for a goal to make the lead 2-0.
Minutes later in the 33rd minute, Freshman forward Cenayda Guzman delivered a strike from the right side to give the Golden Knights a 3-0 lead into halftime.
The Golden Knights didn’t lose a step in the second half and continued their rout. Less than two minutes into the second half, Guzman put away her second goal of the game from a corner kick.
The Golden Knights added another six goals in the second half to put away the Bears. Goals came from Senior forward Brittany Godin, Junior forward Aoife Herbert, Sophomore midfielder Allison Schmidt, Sophomore forward Carmelina Puopolo, and Freshman forward Brittany Barry.
Barry finished the night with a hat trick in her Saint Rose debut.
“It’s a good start to a very long season,” said Senior midfielder Christina Cuffari. “We still have a couple of things we need to work on, but overall it’s definitely a good start.”
A strong defense made it an easy night for the goalkeepers. Sophomore Jessica Gerski started the game as goalkeeper for the Golden Knights. Freshman keeper Lauren Minkoff came in the second half to complete the 10-0 shutout. Neither players were forced to make a save.
The Golden Knights were ranked 3rd in the NSCAA/Continental Tire preseason poll. The Golden Knights look to continue to move up the rankings this season and earn their way back to the Final Four.
The Golden Knights entered this season without their four-year central midfield starter Amanda Deck, who was also a conference MVP and an All-American.
The Golden Knights also lost two other All-Americans, Katie Whiting, starting center back, and Deanna Esposito, starting keeper.
“One thing we need to work on is just getting players used to new roles,” said Cuffari. “We lost a lot of seniors and everyone just has to get their nervous out of their system and so we can move forward.”
This past weekend the Golden Knights traveled to unknown territories to take on the New Mexico Highlands Cowgirls in another non-conference game. The Golden Knights will open up NE-10 conference play today against Pace University at 5p.m. at Sullivan Field at the Plumeri Sports Complex.
