2005 Season In Review
By Justin LongoriaFor Alma College Sport Marketing
Defense wins championships. This is the kind of philosophy women’s head soccer coach Chi Ly employs to his soccer team each season. With a little help from the “Art of War” author, Sun Tzu the soccer team goes by the motto; defense is the matter of invincibility.
With a defensive-minded philosophy and the largest roster Ly has ever had, the soccer team got off to a hot start; beginning the first four games of the season without a loss. During these first four games, no goals were allowed and the defense seemed invincible.
“The team came together and gelled much faster than I expected,” Ly said.
As the preseason went on, the team began to get banged up and injuries started to plague them. Key players like midfielder Angela Szatkowski (North Muskegon) and Allison Tolly (Mason/Okemos) and Megan Murphy (Gaylord) on defense went down with injuries.
Headed into conference play, the team was hurting and the ‘honeymoon weeks’ - the August pre-season camp where there are no distractions, school hasn’t started and everyone’s happy – were over. Excitement was abundant as the team was anxious to get the season started.
The excitement generated during the honeymoon weeks was a big reason why the team started off so well. The Scots peaked early, but were bogged down with injury. The injuries led to a loss in confidence as experienced players were no longer on the field.
“Our offense was exposed and we had a hard time transitioning back on defense,” Ly said.
The team never let up, fought hard and stayed competitive the entire season. Throughout the season, the team suffered five loses by only one goal, games that could have gone either way.
One of these losses came to conference powerhouse Hope College. With all the injuries and other obstacles standing in the way, the Scots took the two-time defending conference champions into double overtime and lost a heartbreaker.
“This was by far the team’s best performance of the season,” Ly said. “It’s tough to handle a loss like that when we know we could have won.”
Still, the team didn’t give up and ended the season on a positive note, trouncing Adrian College 4-0.
“After the first goal, it felt like a huge burden was lifted off the team,” Ly said. “I think we could have beaten them 10-0 the way we were playing.”
Looking ahead to next season, the Scots will be hurt with the loss of senior goalkeepers Pam McCarthy (Flushing/Powers Catholic) and Brandi Wright (Holt). Their leadership and communication skills on the field and in practice will be missed.
“I think that during our four years at Alma we’re leaving a positive, hard-working attitude on the team,” McCarthy said.
The incoming recruiting class is looking good as Coach Ly is currently recruiting several talented girls with the hopes of bringing a handful to wear Maroon and Cream.
The soccer program at Alma has come a long way. When Ly first started, he recruited from the dorms in order to have enough girls to field a team. Now the soccer team has a full roster and the talent pool is getting bigger, stronger and faster.
There will be a lot to look forward to when the Scots take the field in 2006.
2005 Statistics
2005 Schedule & Results
Posted: Fri, November 18th, 2005 at 4:51PM
