Colleges: Lions not ready for season to end yet

It’s been a long season for Saint Leo’s women’s soccer team. Between illness and injury, you could understand if all Ged O’Connor and his squad wanted to do was put it behind them.

But the Lions have one final chance to make the season a memorable one for the right reasons on Thursday night as they open the NCAA Division II Tournament against Florida Tech at 7 p.m. at Rollins College in Winter Park.

“It has definitely been one of those season’s,” O’Connor said on Wednesday, “but we’re going to go there and give it our best shot.”

The Lions injury woes continued last Friday as they fell 4-1 to Rollins in the Sunshine State conference final, losing another player to injury, this time a concussion. But Saint Leo remains optimistic over its chances against the Panthers, who only eked out a 1-0 double-overtime victory when the two team’s faced each other in the regular season.

“No question,” O’Connor said. “We went to their place we had the better of the play, we missed a one-on-one chance with 30 seconds to go, we hit the crossbar, and in the end they scored a pretty decent goal. It’s just a case of making sure we limit our mistakes and if we do that, I don’t think we’re going to have that many issues.”

Lions striker Hannah Beard did give herself and the team something to smile about in the loss to Rollins as she became the leading scorer in Saint Leo history. After a good week of preparation, O’Connor feels his team is ready to spring a surprise.

“No question whatsoever,” O’Connor said. “I think we’ve got to play well, but I think the girls are ready for it.”

Colleges: Lions fall in SSC semifinals

Saint Leo went into Friday night’s Sunshine State Conference tournament semifinal against Rollins eager to avenge the defeat the Tars had inflicted upon it earlier in the season.

No.1 seed and tournament host Rollins wouldn’t allow that to happen, as the Tars advanced to the final with a 4-1 win on Friday night.

After a tight, defensive opening to the game that saw few scoring chances, Rollins took the lead on the half-hour mark. After Chelsea Brady was brought down in the penalty area, Leah Hirsch had her shot saved by Lions goalkeeper Cristina Coca, but Hirsch followed up to score on the rebound.

The Tars doubled their lead just before halftime, as Jessica Mooney scored after Rachel Jakubowski’s header had been blocked.

The Lions had difficulty finding their rhythm, only managing three shots on goal for the game, as Rollins maintained their control in the second half. Ali Schrader scored in the 76th minute to effectively put the game out of reach for the Tars, and while the Lions pulled a goal back through Pia Soesemann in the 86th minute, Schrader answered almost immediately to kill any thought of a comeback.

Now the Lions will have to wait and see as to what their next opponent will be. Coach Ged O’Connor was confident his sides’ victory against Nova Southeastern would be enough to put the Lions in the NCAA Tournament field, but it will remain to be see what happens on Sunday when the bracket gets announced.

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: 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 revenge, Soesemann earns award

Two seasons ago, a 3-0 loss at Barry cost Saint Leo’s women a chance a the Sunshine State Conference regular season championship, and the top seed in the SSC tournament that season.

With many members of the team remaining on the Lions squad, Coach Ged O’Connor probably didn’t need to remind his team of what happened then, but did anyway.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” O’Connor said. “The girls had a little bit of revenge in mind after what happened two years ago.”

Sara Macko scored the only goal for the Lions in the eighth minute as they extended their winning streak to three games and moved above .500 in the SSC. After a pair of tough losses to Rollins and Florida Tech, the Lions are rounding into the form O’Connor was hoping to see from them.

‘It feels that way,” O’Connor said. “There’s a little bit of quiet confidence about the team. The great thing was we went down to Barry, they played with three high strikers and we scored in the eighth minute and were able to hold them for the remaining 82.”

Integral in that winning run has been the play of Pia Soesemann, who on Monday was named the SSC Women’s Offensive Player of the Week after scoring three goals in two games. While Macko and All-American forward Hannah Beard have been getting a lot of attention for the Lions this season, Soesemann has been a vital piece in their success.

“Pia’s a stud, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,” O’Connor said. “She’s a great player, but she works her socks off, and a lot of the work she does goes unnoticed, like Crissy Darwell. She’s having a phenomenal year.”

With what appears to be a three-horse race emerging between Florida Tech, Rollins and Florida Southern for the SSC title, Saint Leo would need things to fall their way in other games if they were to get back into contention. The Lions can help themselves with that this Saturday as they host Florida Southern in their final home game of the season.

“Now we’ve got a massive, massive test,” O’Connor said.. “Florida Southern at home on senior night, it’s going to be a tough game.”

College Women's Matchday: Saint Leo at Palm Beach Atlantic

WHEN: Tuesday, 7 p.m., Lantana Field

NEED TO KNOW: A short-handed Lions squad will travel to West Palm Beach looking to rebound from a 4-2 defeat to Florida Tech on Saturday. Dari Alcantara is suspended after her red card in that game, and with numerous injuries on the squad, Ged O’Connor will only have 15 players at his disposal for the non-conference game against the Sailfish.

Palm Beach Atlantic is on a two-game winning streak, earning a pair of 3-1 victories against Florida Southern and Florida Memorial. The Sailfish are led by Angie Kuhn, who has scored four goals and added three assists, leading the team in both catagories. Senior goalkeeper Ashley Morrell has also brought PBA some stability in net as she has started both of the previous two games.
The Lions, on the other hand, still have questions at the back, having given up seven goals in the past two conference games due to what O’Connor called mental mistakes. The Lions will look to play smarter in an effort to build momentum ahead of a game against Lynn on Friday.

Colleges: Saint Leo women remaining upbeat

SAINT LEO – After consecutive Sunshine State Conference defeats, which led Coach Ged O’Connor to say the Conference title is now out of reach, Saint Leo’s women are refocusing, and setting new goals for their season.

In spite of that, the team is still feeling upbeat as to what can still be achieved this season.

“The first goal is now top-three in the conference, then there’s the conference tournament and the NCAA tournament,” O’Connor said on Monday. “I think they’re still relatively strong, they had a big get-together and team function Saturday night which has helped with things. I’m as upbeat about the season as I think the players are.”

A lack of games has played a big role in the team’s results, with the Lions having only played six times so far this season. Beginning on Saturday, they began a run of five games in 15 days, and eight games in 25 days to close out the regular season. O’Connor is expecting playing games that frequently will allow the Lions to try and build momentum.

“Especially with girls, I think it’s good to get that momentum going, whether it’s a win or loss,” O’Connor said. “It’s always hard when I’m running them on Monday, and we don’t play until Saturday, (they feel) ‘why are we doing this?’

“They’re relatively spaced out, we have at least two days in-between each game, so the scheduling part is fine. All you have to worry about is injuries.”

BREAKING DOWN: One area the Lions have to improve in is defensively, where mental errors have led to opponents goals in the losses to Rollins and Florida Tech. O’Connor

“Each of the goals against Florida Tech were individual mistakes,” O’Connor said, adding that he doesn’t think his side has played the way it is capable of yet this season. The key, of course, is going to be for the Lions to accomplish that, and soon, something that O’Connor thinks is coming.

“Once we get there, hopefully we’ll start peaking at the right time,” he said.

BUMPS AND BRUISES: The Lions are expecting a party of 15 to travel to face Palm Beach Atlantic as injuries continue to take their toll on the roster. As with their game against Armstrong Atlantic earlier this season, the Lions will have a short bench with only three outfield substitutes available.

O’Connor thinks that while the team’s number may be short, the camaraderie on the team has increased, recalling when the Lions began the preseason two years ago with only 12 players.

“Everyone knew that they were going to work hard, and they were going to play,” O’Connor said. “Everyone was a close-knit group, so they were quite happy with how things were.”

Colleges: O'Connor upbeat despite latest setback

SAINT LEO – Anyone looking for proof of the existence of Murphy’s Law should probably be focused on the series of unfortunate events that have been a running theme throughout the Saint Leo women’s soccer team’s season so far.

With the other misfortunes already documented, the Lions were dealt a further blow moments before their crucial Sunshine State Conference match with Rollins last week as defender Malloree Enoch suffered a torn ACL in the pregame warm-up. Enoch tried to play, but was only able to last three minutes before it was clear she couldn’t go on.

“That just killed us,” Lions coach Ged O’Connor said. “There’s just been issue after issue after issue, and this is just another one.

“It’s been frustrating, I can’t lie, but it’s not going to be easy, it’s not meant to be easy, so you get up, dust yourself off and go again.”

O’Connor, though, won’t allow the latest setback to cloud his vision of what he believes this season can still be for the Lions. Before Monday afternoon’s practice, O’Connor remained optimistic that despite everything, this season could still be a successful one.

“I’m excited,” O’Connor said. “I’m optimistic. This is why you play sports, you get knocked down, you get back up and you see what you’ve got.”

BIG SHOES TO FILL: When All-American goalkeeper Lauren Hudson graduated after last season, O’Connor knew whoever took her place in net for the Lions would have a big role to fill.

Freshman Cristina Coca, who was a standout in her four years at Bloomingdale, has stepped into the role, and O’Connor is pleased with what he’s seen from her so far.

“Coca’s been doing well,” O’Connor said. “Obviously she’s come in behind Lauren, who was Lauren, and Coca came in knowing she had some big shoes to fill.

“We had a lot of chats about that before she came in, so she knew, and she knows exactly what I expect of her, but moreso what the team needs. They need to have a player they can be confident in.”