Point Park women’s soccer head coach Maggie Kuhn was frustrated about the team dynamic after a 1-3 start in which the Pioneers were outscored 16-6, but things have changed.
After two road contest wins against St. Catherine University and conference opponent Brescia University, Point Park is 9-8 overall and with one game remaining in the regular season, a .500 winning percentage is assured.
“I couldn’t be prouder for and of the girls,” Kuhn said. “It takes a lot of heart and character to pick yourself and your teammates up after digging such a big hole for ourselves like we did at the beginning of the season. Many teams and individuals would have thrown in the towel, but my girls fought and have set themselves up to prove more to themselves and to others about their quality. They deserve this.”
One thing that Kuhn is especially pleased with is the team’s depth. Much of the scoring has come from reserves and many players had to be counted on with two games in as many days.
“Our depth is tremendously important to our success,” Kuhn said. “This is the first year since starting at Point Park where subbing doesn’t tremendously lower the quality of play of chemistry of the players on the field. I think it has helped us in tight games as we are able to wear teams down. I believe it could be a difference maker going into Carlow and then hopefully the playoffs.”
After defeating Midway 4-0 on Sunday, Oct. 12 in a conference game, the week started with a loss to Georgetown College Monday which ended a five game winning streak. The lone goal was scored in the 56th minute. Point Park outshot Georgetown 6-3 in the loss.
“I think it came down to us being tired from the day before and it was a lack of focus,” junior defender Jasmine Meichele said. “Everyone was tired from the trip.”
After returning to Pittsburgh late Monday night, the Pioneers traveled Thursday by bus with the men’s soccer team back to Kentucky, their second consecutive seven hour bus ride in less than a week. From the Oct. 12 trip to Midway until the Pioneers returned from Brescia early Sunday morning, they drove a total of 1,796 miles by bus.
Point Park started with a 3-1 victory against St. Catherine. Meichele scored her first goal of the season in the fifth minute while Alyson Joyce added her third goal of the season at the 35-minute mark. Leeza Tokarski, back from injury put a third goal on the board for the Pioneers three minutes after St. Catherine got its first goal. Tokarski’s goal was her second of the season.
The next day against Brescia, Point Park won 2-0 behind freshman Audra Lewis’s ninth goal and senior midfielder Megan Kuntz’s third, both of which were scored in the second half.
“I think we could have had a lot more goals personally,” Meichele said. “We played down to their level but it’s mainly because the field we played in didn’t help us that they were playing for us and not in the best conditions. We still got the win at the end of the day.”
With the victory, the Pioneers are now 6-2 on the road and Meichele believes winning seven of the past eight games helps that.
“I think we’ve been on this high where we’ve been playing our game,” Meichele said. “We’ve been going at teams and giving them a tough game.”
Point Park wraps up its regular season schedule Thursday against Carlow. While the game is technically a road contest, it will be played at Highmark Stadium. Kuhn refers to the Carlow game as one of the most important of the season.
“It’s going to be a tough game, you know they’re going to come at us with all their strengths,” Meichele said. “We’ve just got to play with intensity, not play down to them and play our game. Hopefully we can beat Carlow and get the bye to go straight to the semifinals.”
With the string of the successful games the Pioneers are currently on, Meichele has a special feeling about this team.
“This could be our winning season,” Meichele said. “If we just carry on playing how we are and working hard in training and doing the right things on and off the pitch, then we’ll be fine. You can tell that everyone wants it on our team.”
