EWING – As the season begins to wrap itself up, the competition remains strong and brutal for The College of New Jersey’s women’s soccer team. The echo of playoff talk is beginning to be heard in the conference.
Despite that, the Lions seem well prepared for what’s ahead in the final weeks of the season.
TCNJ, currently sporting an undefeated record over 10 games this season, and coming off a 1-0 victory against Gettysburg, knows that it still needs to take its next opponent, Ramapo College, just as seriously as the rest.
According to head coach Joe Russo, the Lions know that their final games, especially against #18-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology, is no easy task.
“There’s no such thing as an easy game,” Russo said, “It’s a conference opponent [Ramapo]…it’s always been competitive in the past, so we’re looking forward to a good match.”
The statistics say otherwise, as TCNJ has had an impressive scoreless streak. To this point, the Lions have not allowed a goal all season. The offense has also scored an average of four goals per game, according to Division III statistics. But Russo doesn’t attribute the team’s successes to skill, especially that goals-allowed streak.
“I think we’ve been fortunate…and It’s not really just our goalkeepers, it’s a collective team effort of defense, especially our forwards and backs.” Russo said. “I think we’ve been pretty good as a team …. but we’ve also been pretty fortunate.”
That’s why, to keep these fortunes and young players growing, Russo and his young squad of freshmen and sophomores were out Thursday afternoon practicing, just one day after their 1-0 victory. The team did light reps, light exercises, and had a half-field scrimmage to keep themselves in good shape for Saturday.
The team seemed to be in high spirits and ready for action. The team looked, despite a few visible flaws on accuracy, to be in a solid state for Saturday’s game. However, Russo knows that there is always some room for improvement in this excellent squad.
“We just try to get better every single day,” Russo said. “It’s a great group of kids, they love to work hard…they love to compete, we have very good leadership amongst this group.”
What Russo notices at practices, such as the one on Thursday, is some flaws with the team, despite their strong showing on the playing field. Even small issues, such as accuracy and possession, show Russo he has more inconsistencies to correct.
Russo even sees, despite outscoring their last three opponents 10-1, and outshooting their opponents 95-7, more room for growth in these young players.
“I’d rate our last three games a B, maybe B-minus.” Russo said. “We’ve been inconsistent these last three, four games, playing…not really the style we want to play.
Russo also pointed out problems with finishing shots and accuracy pertaining to shots on goal during the
Gettysburg match, a problem he has seen since the beginning of the year, but improving. For example, TCNJ outshot Gettysburg 20-1, but only ended with one goal in the first half.
“I don’t think we were at our best on Wednesday,” Russo said. “I thought we were unfortunate as it pertains to finishes, hitting the crossbar, the goal posts…we still have a lot of better in us.”
However, when the team and the coaches takes the practice field, the game field, or any field for that matter, the one lingering word stays in the back of the head, playoffs. But Russo knows all too often, despite the powerhouse he runs, and the 27 consecutive postseason appearances, it’s not an easy journey.
“The NJAC is one of the more competitive divisions. Any given team on a given day could change things up.” Russo said.
At the end of the two-hour-long practice, the women’s soccer team gets words of advice from their coach and head back to their student lives to prepare for next day’s practice. They look to better themselves and grow as a team, and most importantly, win.
But one question remains. Is it still possible for the Lions to finally have an undefeated season, at the helm of one of the winningest coaches in Division III history?
“No.” Russo said, letting out a small laugh and a small grin.
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