The Archway

Issue date: 10/26/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Athletic Dept. Junior Danielle Malta is part of a versatile Bulldog squad that has high expectations for the upcoming Northeast-10 conference playoffs in 2007.

Teams would be hard pressed to match the Bryant University women's soccer team (16-0-4, 11-0-3 NE-10) accomplishments so far this fall. After all, perfection doesn't leave much room for improvement.

Fresh off a 1-0 road shutout over conference foe Merrimack and a 2-0 dismissal of Pace in the regular season finale, the team now turns its attention to the playoffs, beginning this Sunday, October 28 when the Bulldogs host an opening round match versus Umass Lowell in the quarterfinals of the NE-10 Conference Tournament.

In their latest victory on October 23, the Bulldogs outshot Pace 26-4, Freshman forward Kim Rich provided all the offense, and sophomore goalkeeper Katie Mitchell combined with Jessica Neales to notch a school record 16th single season victory. Last year, the squad advanced to its first-ever league championship game, where they were edged by Merrimack. But they've been on fire since that setback, showing no signs of letting up.

The experience and outstanding leadership of senior captains Tricia Spada (MF), Diane Paskel (F), and Lauren Childers (D) have without question contributed to the Bulldogs' #8 national ranking in the Division II polls.

To say starting goalkeepers Jess Clark (7-0-2) and Jessica Neales (6-0-2), both juniors, have been exceptional would be putting it mildly. The duo anchored a stonewall defense that yielded only 16 goals the entire regular season, or less than one per game. (0.80)

One noticeable change from last season lies in the scoring distribution. While the '06 top scorer netted 19 goals, this year's leader totaled only 8. The offense has accounted for that gap by spreading the wealth in the red zone. During one stretch, 10 different players scored in a row. Eighth year Coach Chris Flint described this versatility as one of several critical components behind Bryant's unblemished record.

"We've faced some adversity with injuries, having had starters go down throughout the course of the season," Flint said. "That says so much about the depth of the team; if somebody goes down someone always takes her place. That's a huge factor in a year like this."

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