By Maggie Cassidy
Although the women’s soccer team is already painfully aware of its unusually high number of injuries so far this season, when lined up on paper, the number of bruised and broken players is striking.
Head coach Ed Matz said that from his 26-player roster, six are definitely out for the rest of the season, while at least four more are questionable for this weekend’s home matches against Virginia Commonwealth and reigning Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) champion James Madison.
“It’s beyond belief. Injuries are a part of every season, but this is beyond normal,” Matz said. “This is just mind-boggling.”
Three more players are nursing minor injuries, and are playing more time than they normally would with their types of impairments.
At the top of the list of players out for the season is Jenna Lucchesi, the junior midfielder who suffered a compound leg fracture in the Huskies’ 1-0 loss at Towson Sept. 30. Lucchesi required emergency surgery after a hard tackle caused her right ankle bone to protrude through her skin, and will have seven small screws and a metal plate in her ankle for the rest of her life.
Lucchesi is expected to make a full recovery and return to the pitch around March.
In addition to Lucchesi, who was a key player in the Huskies’ midfield, senior Lauren Meehan, who has an ankle injury, and freshman Ali Skonieczny, who injured her hip, are also done for the season.
Backup keeper Sarah Fylak and freshman forward Kristen Blake are both nursing stress fractures in their backs. Flyak will definitely remain on the sidelines through 2007 while Blake’s return to the field this season is “doubtful,” Matz said.
After this weekend’s road trip to UNC Wilmington and Georgia State, freshman Lesley Condie and junior Emilee Ellison returned home to Boston in wheelchairs. A definite ACL tear is forcing Condie to sit out the rest of the season, while a possible ACL tear has sidelined Ellison for this weekend and beyond.
If Ellison’s ACL is not torn, she may have torn her minisucs, or likely suffered another sort of sprain.
Freshman Brianna Brennan has been unable to play this season due to an ACL tear she suffered during the summer.
Junior midfielder Kelsey O’Rourke, who broke her arm in three places this season, will miss out on this weekend’s games. Key defenders Hannah Schindler (ankle) and Brenna Matthews (concussion) are also questionable.
Due to personal reasons, senior midfielder Dianna Mastromauro will also miss this weekend’s games.
In addition to players who are out or questionable for this weekend or longer, several players have been playing – and will continue to play – extended minutes with comparatively minor injuries. Junior midfielder Maria Picard and Mastromauro have been playing with compartment syndrome, better known as shin splints. Both had operations previously and are suffering from reoccurring pain.
Also, sophomore Sofia Palmquist, a midfield force who suffered a sprained ankle and hamstring injury earlier in the season, is playing more minutes than she typically would with such injuries.
This weekend, Matz will be missing at least five of the season’s original starters and may have as little as two substitutes. Faced with such dire circumstances, Matz said his plan is to try to rotate players in as much as possible.
However, his options will be limited in the first half due to CAA rules. Once players are subbed out in the first half, they cannot return to the pitch. In the second half, though, the player can go in and out once.
The Huskies play both of this weekend’s games at Parsons Field, where they are 0-2-2 this season. Northeastern will face off against Virginia Commonwealth Friday at 6 p.m. and James Madison Sunday at 1 p.m.
Northeastern has played each team only twice, losing all meetings. VCU comes into the match 7-6-1, with a 2-2 record on the road. The Dukes enter Sunday’s game placed first in the CAA. JMU’s record of 12-1-1 ties the team for best in Division-1 NCAA play.
