Yesterday was a very happy birthday for UMass’s Sydney Stoll.
On the 19th anniversary of the day she was born, Stoll scored two goals in the first half of the Minutewomen’s 4-0 win over Hartford, providing herself with one the best birthday gifts a soccer player could dream of.
“It feels good,” said Stoll, who had both of her goals assisted by senior forward Britt Canfield. “Britt did a lot of work down the flank and I just finished.”
Just after eight minutes into the game, the birthday girl received a pass from Canfield on the left side. Stoll looked up, faced Hartford’s goalkeeper, Elizabeth Cook, and took aim. Her shot to the upper right-hand corner of the goal deflected off Cook’s left hand, into the back of the net.
Another eight minutes later, Canfield got a ball sent by senior captain Jenny Roehrig from around midfield. Canfield dribbled the ball down the left side, toward the net and ripped off a shot. Cook sprawled to the ground and the ball deflected hard off her stomach. The bounce flew right to Stoll, however, and the sophomore punched it with her cleat into the goal.
“It’s great playing with Britt,” said Stoll, refusing to take all the credit. “She drills good passes to everyone and I just happened to be there to knock it in.”
The tally was her third of the season. She now leads the team in that category.
She scored UMass’s first goal of the year and the only one in a 1-0 victory over Maine in the season opener on Aug. 31.
The shutout seemed to put a stop to the offensive drought the Maroon and White seemed to be suffering from the first three games.
The Minutewomen had scored four goals since the season began.
“It feels great,” Stoll said about getting out of the drought. “It feels great to finally finish and finish early – we did it all pretty much in the first half. It was a nice halftime – mild – but coach told us not to get ahead of ourselves. We take it one game at a time and we came ready to play.”
Stoll’s frequent bursts of energy, and her pair of goals within the first 17 minutes, are exactly what UMass coach Jim Rudy had pictured coming from the Dedham, Mass., native during scouting.
“[This is] how I envisioned her. She’s a person that can nip into spaces and strip defenders and take very quick goals because she’s so quick,” Rudy said. “And her work rate is so high. She’s always ready to pounce and that’s how I envisioned her when I recruited her out of club ball.”
Stoll was the Minutewomen’s top freshman performer last season, playing in all 17 games – and even starting the last seven after Tina Rodriquez tore her ACL. She was the only freshman to see action in every game.
She pocketed her first collegiate goal in just her second game when she scored the third goal in a 3-1 win over Boston University.
She finished with three points, having notched an assist against Saint Joseph’s in the team’s 13th game.
“[She’s] dynamic, quick, loves to get the ball not for herself, but so she can deal it to someone else,” Rudy said. “[She has a] great one-on-one attacking personality who can also pass very well.”
Domenic Poli can be reached at [email protected].
