Muster's Musings: Women’s soccer relishes winning streak

This season, opponents have not fared well against the Brockport women’s soccer team. Take for instance the SUNY ESF Mighty Oaks. Brockport dominated the Mighty Oaks 7-0 Saturday, Sept. 15, and sent them home with their second loss of a winless season. Over the coming weekend, a 5-0-1 Brockport will begin conference play — the harder part of the season, where hopefully that domination will stick around and prove the first six games were not just beginners luck.  
From a spectator’s standpoint at Saturday’s game, the Golden Eagles looked beyond golden. Meanwhile, the Mighty Oaks were far less than mighty. They were just plain pitiful.

Throughout the game, Brockport maintained control of the ball. The Eagles were constantly one step ahead of the Mighty Oaks’ offense, which Brockport held to just seven shots.

The Eagles also easily broke up the ESF defense and had 11 shots aside from the seven that made it to the back of the net.

The domination Brockport released upon its opponent Saturday was not the first time this season, as Brockport had three previous shutout victories.

The first two Brockport shutouts came in the opening weekend of the season. In the Defiance Classic, Brockport beat Greenville College 4-0 Saturday, Sept. 1, and Defiance College 3-0 Sunday, Sept. 2. Brockport’s third shutout came Wednesday, Sept. 12 in its home opener against Medaille. Brockport posted a 5-0 win in that game.

Aside from the four shutouts, the Eagles also won 3-2 over Nazareth Sept. 8 and forced a 2-2 against St. John Fisher Sept. 5.

This leaves Brockport with a 5-0-1 record, the second-best among Eagles athletics this fall behind the football team, which is 3-0 following a 41-17 victory over the College of New Jersey Sept. 15.

Saturday’s game not only marked the fifth win for Brockport women’s soccer, but the end of non-conference play. Brockport will now be getting down to the meat of the matter in SUNYAC play.

The SUNYAC has given the women some trouble over the past couple of years. Last season Brockport went 5-4, and in 2010, the Eagles went 3-6. That’s a combined record of 8-10. Brockport failed to make the SUNYAC tournament in 2010 and in 2011 lost 1-2 to Fredonia.  
That brings us to this season.

Starting out in conference play, Brockport faces Buffalo State Friday, Sept. 21 and Fredonia Saturday, Sept. 22. Both will be at home, but the following four games will be away.

In that span, Brockport will lose home field advantage. Yet, this is only one small factor in game play.

The team will still have the skills sets of midfielder Kaila Maguire, forward Vanessa Gillette and many other players to carry them along. Maguire had six goals in 2011 and already has three this season, while Gillette’s goal count this season is at four.

SUNYAC opponents that could cause Maguire, Gillette and the rest of the team a problem are New Paltz and Fredonia. The Eagles play Fredonia Sept. 22, and New Paltz Sept. 29.

New Paltz sits at the top of the SUNYAC standings with an overall record of 6-1. Early season success for the Hawks earned them a No. 24 Division III ranking for the week of Sept. 2, but the team dropped out of the rankings after a 1-2 loss to Union College.

Brockport is just behind the Hawks in SUNYAC standings, followed by the Fredonia Blue Devils at third. The Blue Devils are another opponent that could give Brockport some hassle. Sept. 15, the Blue Devils pulled out a 1-0 upset victory over William Smith, ranked No. 1 in Division-III at the time.

On the other hand, one opponent Brockport should breeze through is rival Geneseo. Geneseo is last in the SUNYAC standings with an overall record of 0-5-1, has scored only one goal this season, and suffered four shutouts. Their lone goal came against Nazareth Thursday, Sept. 13 in the Knights’ 1-2 loss.

Each of the records above are just numbers written on paper. Brockport needs to be on its toes in conference play to prevent losses and position themselves better for the postseason. Every team has its on-days and off-days, and factors will pop up that could block the Eagles’ road to success, such as injuries or fatigue from a long season.

So when 2012 is said and done, will the first six games turn out be beginners luck, or will Brockport ride their domination all the way to the top? I’m hoping for the latter.  

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