According to Sarah Cook, the captain of the Massachusetts women’s soccer team, practice just isn’t her “cup of tea.” She would much rather be playing games.
And finally, after six days of practice, Cook will get her “tea time.”
Exactly one week after an impressive 6-2 victory over Binghamton University, UMass returns to action on Sunday afternoon when it hosts Rhode Island. The Minutewomen will look to make it two consecutive wins at Totman Field when they take on the Rams in what will be the Atlantic 10 season opener for both sides.
The two teams lost in the semi-finals of last season’s A-10 Championships and both will be looking to get off on the right foot in this year’s campaign.
UMass (2-1) coach Jim Rudy will be hoping that his squad can harness the positive momentum from the Binghamton win and exact a measure of revenge on URI (3-1) for the Rams’ 3-0 win over the Minutewomen in Kingston, R.I. last season.
“It’s really important [to carry the momentum over] because we lost two games [last weekend] that were going to be big for our strength of schedule index,” Rudy said.
With its strength of schedule lessened from the cancellation of the Georgia and Auburn games, the Maroon and White can’t afford a let down against the dangerous URI squad.
“Rhode Island is going to be a heck of an opponent,” Rudy said. “They are a big team and very athletic. [URI] is at you all over the place.”
In order to pick up its second straight victory, UMass will once again need to keep possession for long periods and allow its midfielders space to move the ball and create chances. Seniors Katelyn Jones and Brooke Bartlett on the flanks were much more impressive against the Bearcats than they were in the previous match, a 5-0 loss to Connecticut. Those two, along with fellow senior Kat Machmer and junior Martha Conover in the middle, compose a strong midfield that will look to put the Rams defense on its back foot.
Conover has been especially impressive so far this season with her play in the center of the pitch en route to tallying a team leading four assists.
“[Conover] has a high work rate, a high energy, and [she causes] high anxiety for the other team [because] she is so busy,” Rudy said. “You have to be aware of where she is all the time and that’s basically everywhere.”
The only worry for Rudy and his squad in the midfield will be the health of Bartlett. Bartlett, who plays out on the right flank, injured her ankle in the first half of the win over Binghamton and did not return in the second stanza for precautionary reasons, with the Minutewomen already up 3-0. In her place junior Andrea Trujillo filled in admirably and put relentless pressure on the Bearcat defense.
While the midfield will key the UMass attack, the Rams will look to a pair of seniors to put pressure on goalkeeper Julie Podhrasky and the rest of the Minutewoman defense. Forward Shannon Kittleson and midfielder Catherine Zanni have accounted for three of the Rams’ seven goals this season, all of which have been game-winners. In last season’s win over UMass, Zanni contributed a pair of assists while Kittleson added a goal.
Cook will once again be called upon to marshal the back line for the Minutewomen and quell the attacking options for Zanni and Kittleson. She was solid against Binghamton, winning a number of headers and limiting the number of the Bearcats chances as well as starting many of UMass attacks with long balls from the back. She will need to produce an equally commanding performance on Sunday if the Minutewomen are to pick up a key conference victory.
Whatever way you look at it, Sunday’s encounter is sure to be a hard fought battle and could go a long way to deciding the A-10 regular season title.
