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Full steam ahead

Women's soccer continues to cruise past conference foes en route to tournament bid

By Eric Gullickson

Posted on Friday, October 29th, 2004, 12:00 am

metej krajcovic

FRESHMAN ON THE RUN - Marie-Michele Bouchard battles with UNH players during Sunday´s 1-0 victory. UMaine plays today at Albany after securing a playoff birth in the America East Conference.

As they head to New York, the University of Maine women’s soccer team has put itself in a position to declare “mission accomplished.”

“Our initial goal was to finish in the top four in the conference,” said head coach Scott Atherley, “and hopefully get a seeding in the tournament where we get home field advantage or we get in a position to get a bye in the first round.”

The Black Bears are one of two teams to clinch a position in the America East field of six. The tournament is held at the field of the team that wins the conference regular season title. The top two teams get a bye into the second round. And the Black Bears are currently in second place in America East at 5-2-0 behind Northeastern who is 5-1-1 in the conference.

“Our initial goal hasn’t been established yet, we are going to take it one game at a time, and our players realize we have business to take care of,” said Atherley. “If we don’t, we could be the sixth-seeded team instead of the top-seeded or second-seeded team.”

The race is still close – Boston University is right behind UMaine with a record of 4-2-1 and Binghamton right behind BU with a 4-3 record. So if UMaine were to lose both games this weekend, they could likely bounce from second to forth. However, the team controls its own destiny and by winning out, they would earn a bye in the first round of the America East tournament. With a little help from a Northeastern loss, they could take the top spot in the conference.

The Black Bears head into this weekend on fire. They are currently on a four-game winning streak and are looking to surge into the playoffs on a six-game winning streak. The team has only allowed one goal in the stretch, and the team’s defense will look to hold both opponents off the score sheet this weekend.

UMaine’s opponents this weekend are towards the bottom of the America East standings. They face SUNY-Albany on Thursday and Stony Brook on Saturday to finish out the season.

SUNY-Albany has had the roughest season out of all the teams UMaine has or will face this season. Albany is currently on a 15-game losing streak and a seven-game losing streak within the conference. They hold a 2-16-0 record overall and are 0-7-0 in America East. Provided a total collapse, the Black Bears should be able to cruise through Thursday’s game.

“We don’t want to look too far in advance,” said defenseman Alison Kelly. “Even though it is really exciting and we are excited to be part of the playoffs, we are going to take it one game at a time, which we have been very consistent with all season.”