Colleges: Lions hoping history repeats itself

This season’s Sunshine State Conference tournament is providing a little more déjà vu for Ged O’ Connor and the Saint Leo women’s soccer team.

After entering the tournament as the No.4 seed, as the Lions did a season ago, they will now travel to Rollins College on Friday night for a semifinal against the No.1-seed Tars, a rematch of last season’s semifinal.

There’s also the fact that last season the Tars defeated the Lions in the regular season, only for the Lions to turn the tables in the tournament on their way to the title. Earlier this season, Rollins earned a 3-2 come-from-behind victory at Saint Leo’s University Field, which would lead one to believe that a repeat of last season’s semifinal could be in the cards.

All Saint Leo forward Hannah Beard knows, though, is that the Lions are eager to get another chance to face the Tars.

“I think we’re just really excited to get a chance to play Rollins again,” Beard said. “I felt like we weren’t at our best when we played them last time because of the swine flu and we hadn’t played. It’s a bit of excitement to see how we can play them when we’re at full strength.”

Saint Leo scored after 69 seconds against Nova Southeastern, Chrissy Darwell finding the back of the net for the Lions, and for the first 15 minutes completely dominated play. But after that, the game developed into the kind of game O’Connor is expecting to face for the rest of the postseason.

“From about the 25-minute mark through the rest of the game, even though we had more chances and everything, it was more of a war, it was more of a battle,” O’Connor said, “I think is the way the rest of our games are going to go, just because of the injuries we’ve got and so on and so on.”

O’Connor doesn’t mind that, because he believes that while his side has enough talent to beat anyone the Lions will face, he also believes that the team’s work-rate will keep them in any game they play.

“I’d rather not play well and fight for 90 minutes than play well with people who aren’t going to go out there and fight,” O’Connor said. “I think we’ve got players out there who will work their socks off every single minute of the game, and to me that’s very, very important.”

The Lions have reached the SSC tournament final each of the past three seasons, in addition to winning the title last year. That has become a source of pride for Beard and the rest of the senior class.

“Definitely,” Beard said. “I think we’ve gotten used to it in a sense, the past few years we’ve always gotten to the final, so it will be seen as a huge let-down if we don’t get there this year.”

As for the key to getting back to the final for a fourth straight season, O’Connor thinks the key to the game will be in midfield, where All-Conference first-teamer Rachel Jabukowski plays a key role for the Tars.

“For Friday, I think it’s all about the midfield,” O’Connor said. “As long as we’re strong down the middle, that’s important, but Friday night is going to be a much more challenging match because their best players are their two center mids, so it’s a case of us having to negate their players and I’m sure we’re going to do a good job of that.”

Colleges: Darwell's early goal lifts Lions into SSC semis

Chrissy Darwell’s goal 69 seconds into the game proved to be the only one of the game as Saint Leo advanced into the semifinals of the Sunshine State Conference tournament with a 1-0 victory against Nova Southeastern on Tuesday night at University Field.

Ana Davila began the move for the Lions, finding Hannah Beard on the left side of the penalty area. Beard turned her defender, and played the ball back to Darwell, who struck a shot into the opposite corner of the goal.

The Lions continued to press forward to try and add to their lead, Darwell finished with five shots, but were unable to find the net again. That wouldn’t come back to haunt them, though, as the Lions defense allowed only one shot on goal as Cristina Coca earned her third shutout of the season.

The Lions will now face tournament host and No.1-seed Rollins in the semifinals at 7 p.m. on Friday night. The Lions lost 3-2 to the Tars on Sept. 23rd, twice holding a lead before goals by Elise Spearing and Charlotte Murrell gave Rollins victory.

Colleges: Using last season as guide, Lions look for SSC title

SAINT LEO – Saint Leo’s women have been here before. Last year, as it happens.

Then, the No.4-seeded Lions made a remarkable run to the Sunshine State Conference tournament championship.

Now, the No.4-seeded Lions are looking to do the same thing, beginning when they face No.5 seed Nova Southeastern at University Field on Tuesday night. It’s a task that Coach Ged O’Connor and his side are looking forward to.

“This is the fun time of the year, because you know every game you’re going to play is going to be a tough one,” O’Connor said.

In the past three seasons, the Lions have risen to that challenge. Including last year’s title, they have been to the SSC tournament final in each of the past three seasons. Before last season, the Lions had been the No.2 seed twice, earning a bye in the first round and advancing automatically into the semifinals. O’Connor, though, is happy to have an extra game at home.

“In a way, I’d rather finish third or fourth than finish second in the conference,” O’Connor said. “Both Rollins and Florida Tech have got over a week off, because we had to have last weekend free. That’s a long time without playing. It’s hard to stay match-fit.”

Saint Leo won 3-1 on the road when the two teams played in the penultimate game of the Lions regular season. Hannah Beard scored twice in that contest, and O’Connor said he will need Beard and center back Francesca Williams to be at their best if they Lions are to move on to face Rollins on Friday.

A bigger key, though, may be for the Lions to erase the defensive mistakes that have allowed opponents easy scoring opportunities, a trait that has bedeviled the Lions so far this season.

“If we continue to allow mistakes, it’s going to cost us,” O’Connor said. “We’ve got good enough players going forward between Pia (Soesemann), Chrissy (Darwell), Hannah and (Sara) Macko, we’ve got some damn, damn good players going forward, but I don’t know how many goals we’ve given up this year, but I’d be surprised if more than 20 percent were because of great play by the other team.”

If the Lions can fix that, though, O’Connor sees no reason why his side can’t win a second straight title.

“I think there’s a little bit of confidence, especially because they know what happened last year,” O’Connor said. “I’m not scared of any of those teams.”

Colleges: Lions earn victory, end Spartans' season

Saint Leo’s women ended the University of Tampa’s season as Sara Macko scored one goal and assisted on another to give the Lions a 2-1 victory at Pepin-Rood Stadium on Wednesday night.

The loss eliminated the Spartans from contention for the Sunshine State Conference, as Lynn’s 2-0 victory against Barry earned the Fighting Knights the No.6 and final seed in the tournament.

Macko gave Saint Leo the lead in the ninth minute, firing home a shot from the left side of the penalty area after picking up a cross by Francesca Williams. The goal was Macko’s eighth of the season.

Tampa tied the game before halftime, a poor clearance by the Lions’ defense coming to Megan Tobin, who capitalized on the error to score her third goal of the season, leaving the game even at the break.

Chrissy Darwell broke the tie in the 69th minute, though, as she headed home from Macko’s corner kick.

Had it won, Tampa would have earned the No.6 spot in the SSC tournament thanks to its 2-1 victory against Lynn earlier in the season. As it is, the Spartans young squad will return the bulk of its players for next season, with only Saige Steinmetz and Renta Figuera graduating from this year’s squad.

The No.4 seed Lions will next host No.5 seed Nova Southeastern in the opening round of the SSC tournament on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. After winning the conference tournament title a season ago as the No.4 seed, the Lions will try to make a repeat run this season.