Streaks are a major part of sports. One only needs to look at the recent surge of the Boston Red Sox to see that a prolonged winning streak can change the entire complexion of a season.
The flip side of this coin is dealing with an extended losing streak. This is the challenge facing the Massachusetts women’s soccer team: to end its four-game losing skid.
Whereas everything seems to be going the Sox way for the past month, the Minutewomen haven’t been able to catch a break. From shots hitting crossbars and posts to a host of injuries and downright inconsistent play, UMass has been unable to register a victory this season.
“We haven’t really gotten our measure of luck,” coach Jim Rudy said. “But you make some of your luck. The team is pushing hard, and we’ve been in every game.”
The Minutewomen get a chance to break into the win column this Friday night when they travel to the University of Rhode Island to take on the Rams.
URI (2-4, 0-0 Atlantic-10) has played some of the best competition in the country to begin the season, and is expected to be one of the top teams in the A-10 this year.
Rudy sees the game against Rhode Island as an opportunity for the team to turn around the season.
“In a way, the Rhode Island game becomes a new season for us,” Rudy said. “You can forget what our record is because in conference we’re 0-0.”
While Rudy would like nothing more than to leave Rhode Island with a win, UMass will have a tough challenge.
The Maroon and White will have its hands full trying to contain the explosive Kasparek twins. The junior duo leads the offensive attack for the Rams. Melanie, coming off a season in which she was named the A-10 Offensive Player of the Year, is third on the team in scoring. Megan, a preseason first-team All-Conference selection, is leading the team in points.
The task of containing this twosome will be even more difficult for the Minutewomen if sophomore defender Stephanie Barrett doesn’t suit up. Barrett injured her knee in Sunday’s game at New Hampshire and, as of Wednesday, Rudy was still unsure if she would be able to play. Barrett turned in her best effort of the season before being injured, shutting down one of the Wildcats’ leading scorers.
Despite the prospect of competing against one of the better teams in the A-10 shorthanded, Rudy remains optimistic about his team.
“I think we’re about 18 inches away from being 3-1,” Rudy said, citing the number of shots that have hit the posts for UMass and the number of passes that have just missed setting up goals.
“We’ve made a lot of errors that are youth-related, but they’re trying hard,” Rudy said. “We’ve been close, and it’s frustrating because it’s agonizingly close.”
This UMass team is very young, as six freshmen have seen extensive playing time already, and Rudy understands that there will be some growing pains.
“I didn’t expect to be 0-4,” Rudy said. “But I think that reality has set in. We’re young, and we’re going to make young errors.”
And while Rudy is still waiting for his returning players to raise their level of play, he is encouraged that the team has not gotten into any finger-pointing and that the players are continuing to work hard.
One win this early in a long season typically isn’t a huge feat, but for the young UMass team, a win Friday night against a top conference opponent could be just what is needed to turn the season around.
