Sept. 21, 2007
EASTON, Pa. -
The Lafayette women's soccer team will begin a four-game homestand this weekend, as the Leopards will host Manhattan College on Friday evening and Mount St. Mary's on Sunday afternoon.
The four games will prove crucial the squad, as it will then open the Patriot League slate at Army on October 5. Head coach Mick Statham is happy to be in the comfort of Mike Bourger '44 Field.
"It's obviously going to be nice to get home and play some games in our own stadium in front of our own fans," Statham said. "We've had a difficult schedule opening with five of our first six games on the road, but in saying that, it's been valuable experience for the players. It goes without saying that having the home advantage will be nice."
The Leopards return to action after a week of training and regrouping from last weekend's split with Long Island and Cornell. Lafayette defeated the defending NEC champions 2-1 in overtime before falling 3-2 against Cornell less than 48 hours later. Senior classmates Kelly Koreyva and Caroline Tuttle continued their recent success with Koreyva netting the game-winner over LIU and Tuttle's two goal weekend.
Senior tri-captain Megan Hillin thinks her squad has used the week of training to its advantage and are ready to show the improvement throughout the weekend.
"We have had some time to review and learn from the two games this past weekend," Hillin said. "Right now we are focused on improving our own game before we start worrying about the competition. If we can keep consistent the things that have been making us successful and work on some things that need improvement, then hopefully we will come out of the next few games with some wins."
Manhattan comes to College Hill 1-3-2 record in first portion of the 2007 campaign, including a 1-0 loss to Drexel on Sunday. The Jaspers are led by Christine Reina, who has converted two goals on five shots thus far in the 2007 season. Alicia DeFino has tallied all the Jasper minutes in goal, giving up an average of 1.40 goals per contest.
Mount St. Mary's enters the weekend with a 1-5 mark on the year, after falling to American 2-0 last Sunday. The Mount will host Towson on Friday night before traveling to Lafayette for the Sunday matinee. An early season trip out to California and Pittsburgh held the Mount scoreless until an offensive outburst at Saint Peter's on Sept. 14 in a 4-1 win over the Peahens.
The Leopards will continue the homestand on Wednesday night when they host Monmouth at Mike Bourger '44 Field at Oaks Stadium. Gametime is set for 7 p.m.
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