Women's Soccer Hosts Two Games and Autograph Session
9/6/2007 2:32:18 PM | Women's Soccer
Read Match Notes
Orange women's soccer returns to the Hill this weekend for matches against Fairleigh Dickinson and Rhode Island. Play begins at 7 p.m. on Friday against Fairleigh Dickinson and continues at 1 p.m. Sunday against Rhode Island.
The Orange comes home for the first time since closing out the 2006 season with a 1-0 win against South Florida. All-time Syracuse is 50-31-10 at the SU Soccer Stadium and has out-scored opponents 182-129. The Orange is 7-2-2 in home-openers.
Scouting Fairleigh Dickinson.
The Knights are coming off two losses from this past weekend. They lost to St. John’s, 3-1 and Maryland, 2-1. Sophomore midfielder Emma Howes and senior defenseman Meredith King were the Knights’ goal scorers. Junior Rachel Derrico started both games in goal and accumulated fifteen saves. Their opponents have gotten to them late, scoring all five goals in the second half. The Knights have been outshot 44-6, while giving up 16 corners and only taking one. FDU welcomes back 10 starters and 16 letterwinners from last year.
Farmer's Keys to Success Against the Knights
"A lot of it has to do with how we start," Farmer said. "We need to be confident in what we are doing away from the scoreline in the game. How we start the first 15-20 minutes at home will be a big key. Whether we keep the ball better as a group or individually and controlling the pace will be very important."
Scouting Rhode Island
Rhode Island registered a win and a draw during its opening weekend. URI cruised past in-state rival Providence, 4-0 and tied Maine, 1-1. The Rams, who have had four different goal scorers, are led by senior Thorunn Jonsdottir with two goals and an assist. Senior Deb Nelson, sophomore Kassandra Spitler and freshman Jessica Babice have each tallied a goal. Junior Dora Larusdottir leads the team with three helpers. Redshirt freshman Jackie Fede has posted a 0.45 goals-against average and made nine saves. The Rams return eight starters and 19 letterwinners from 2006.
Farmer's Keys to Success Against the Rams
"We need to be able to adjust to their style of play and their players," Farmer said. "They have some premier players and how we deal with those players will be a big. We have to play closer attention to individuals against Rhode Island."
First Timer
Freshman forward Megan Bellingham (Binghamton, N.Y.) notched her first career goal when she scored in the 79th minute of the Michigan State game. She received a pass from freshman forward Dana Bergstrom (Lexington, Mass.), ran down the sidelines, stepped over and fired a shot that struck the crossbar and fell behind the line.
Penalty Kicks
Junior defenseman Karrah Benson (Germantown, Md.) scored the game-winning goal against Oakland by taking advantage of a penalty kick, the first of her career. The last time the Orange took a penalty kick was in 2003 when Nina Scalzo found the back of the net against Villanova.
Sophomore goalkeeper Eliza Bennett-Hattan (Burke, Va.) stopped a penalty kick in the 81st minute to preserve the win. She is a perfect 1-1 on penalty kicks.
Poster and Autographs for All
Following the Rhode Island game, the Syracuse student-athlete and coaches will be signing posters for the fans.
"We just want to have the people to put names with faces and meet people upfront," Farmer said. "We wanted to do it early in the year at our first homestand. The student-athletes can sign the posters and it gets the schedule out to the fans, who become more involved. We want to touch base with people and it's great for the kids to see people up-close that they see out on the field."
