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Printer-Friendly ModeLack of offense factor in loss for women
September 17, 2007 —
The women's soccer team had conference rivals Mercyhurst beat on - for 44 minutes and 52 seconds.
SVSU carved up Mercyhurst's suspect defense in the opening stanza, but failed do convert on a number of quality opportunities. Frustrated, the Cards surrendered their focus and conceded a goal with just eight seconds remaining in the period.
Coach Drago Dumbovic expressed his disappointment with the team.
"I'm obviously disappointed," he said. "It just wasn't good enough."
SVSU looked anemic after taking to the pitch in the second half. Service from the midfield was sparse, and the passes that got through were optimistic at best. Forwards Tammie Edmunds and Kim Oberski failed to take advantage of the opportunities that did arise.
But it's not as though Mercyhurst looked much better - the Lakers barely managed to contain Edmunds and Oberski, both of whom were denied a few chances largely by happenstance; a bad bounce here, a good call there. It certainly wasn't the razor-sharp squad that beat the Cards last year.
And for their part, the women looked like the team that got beat last year, and not the team that massacred Gannon on Friday.
"We just didn't play to our capability," Dumbovic said. "We just weren't ready for this game, for some reason."
Dumbovic's disappointment reflects the game's conference implications. Last year, the loss against Mercyhurst was the nail in the coffin of the team's hopes. Yet, this year's loss is nowhere near as debilitating - if the Cards can put a win together against Northern Michigan on Sunday and beat GVSU, the chances of winning the GLIAC increase exponentially.
But they'll have to convincingly regroup from a frustrating loss in order to do that.
The loss brings the women to 4-2 on the season and 1-1 in the GLIAC. They will not host another team until Northwood comes to SVSU on Oct. 27.