By: Laura Chapman
Assistant Sports Information Director
chapmal@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
Photo: JD Cavrich Photography
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Juniata College women's soccer team has clinched a spot in the Landmark Conference tournament for the first time since the 2010 season, but, with one league match remaining, the seeding for the postseason is still up in the air. The Eagles will host the Rangers of Drew University this Saturday, Nov. 2, at 1 p.m. in the first half of the final conference double header of the season. In an effort to prepare for the matchup on senior day, Juniata has continued to work on its fitness level by running a series of conditioning drills, spelling out the letters R.A.N.G.E.R.S.
"We have been running Rangers," said head coach Scott McKenzie. "I think the team has really adopted this mentality. They understand how much fitness has helped them. At Catholic last Saturday, we did not make a substitution in the first half. Catholic probably cycled in a half dozen or more players. Yet, at the close of the first half, there was absolutely no difference between the output of their athletes and the output of our athletes. It's paid off. Kudos to [Assistant coach] Kaleigh [Herring], for making that a priority. Kudos to Kaleigh for staying on me to keep it up."
Drew is currently second in the conference standings at 4-1 in league play with an overall record of 14-2. Just two matches ago, the Rangers saw their program record-setting 11-game-win-streak come to an end at the hands of The University of Scranton, in a 4-2 loss. Drew bounced back with a 3-0 win over in-state rival FDU-Florham. Juniata is 2-5 in Landmark play against Drew with both wins occurring on Winton Hill Field.
"We're going to be more comfortable in our own skin for the first ten minutes of the game," said McKenzie. "After that the advantage disappears. You've got a small window in which to take advantage. Our thought going into the rest of practices for the week is going to be, 'how can we start off on a high note and make them chase us for the first ten minutes."
The Rangers are boasting the league's top scorer in senior Liz Loiodice. She has netted 15 goals on the year, one more than Juniata senior Paula Pryor (Westbrookville, N.Y./Western Branch). Loiodice and Pryor are tide for first in the conference in total points with 34 apiece.
"They have three outstanding forwards and I think we have three or four outstanding forwards," said McKenzie. "They're athletic, they're bigger than we are, they're probably going to be stronger than we are, and they're taller than we are, so we have to be smarter than they are. I'll take any single player on my team and any group of players on my team against a similar number of any other players in the country and we'll be ok."
The Eagles are in the midst of the most successful season in program history. So far this year they have set the record for wins in a single season, team goals in a season, and Pryor has set new single-season records in both goals and points. Three sophomores in Emily Green (Marietta, Pa./Donegal), Michaela Lacek (New Tripoli, Pa./Northwestern) and Sarah Rhodes (Bloomfield, N.Y./Bloomfield Central) have all tallied five goals on the year and senior Alicia Snyder (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon) is second on the team with eight.
The Juniata defense, anchored by juniors Katie Szczur (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) and Lillian Dudek (Downington, Pa./Upattina School) and freshmen Devin Kos (Bellefonte, Pa./Bellefonte Area) and Erin Mueller (Bedford, Pa./Bedford), has wracked up six team shutouts. The Eagles will look to continue to build on their successful season with the match against Drew.
"The importance we placed all year on providing our seniors with another playoff appearance to be the capstone for their career is something that team has gone check," said McKenzie. "Kaleigh advised them last night of our new record for goals in a season and what we heard from a number of different places on the bus, almost at the same time, was, 'what record is next?' So, I think they're in this legacy mode of let's go after whatever is next. Kaleigh, without even thinking about it, responded, 'let's win a playoff game.' If we want to go ahead and talk legacy, three other teams have made it to the Landmark playoffs, but nobody has won a game. Now the next thing to do is win a game."
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