UMass Boston women’s soccer sits second in the Little East Conference as of October 25, and remain hunting the Huskies hailing from Southern Maine. The Beacons are five points out of first place, and hold the second seed tiebreaker over Western Connecticut State.
Both the Beacons and the Wolves had chances to take sole control of the second seed on Saturday, October 19, but an anti-climactic 3-3 draw made do.
Freshman star Sofia Schallmo — who drew her fourth appearance on the LEC’s Athletes of the week list, this time as the rookie and offensive player of the week — scored all three times for the Beacons. She’s got an LEC leading 16 goals on the year to go with six assists. Schallmo also tops her conference in points, at 38, and game-winning goals. The Beacons would’ve been bounced down to third place without her against West Conn.
UMass Boston’s tie against the Wolves was their third straight conference matchup, a win and a loss to go with it. The Beacons lost 5-1 against Southern Maine, and defeated Keene State 4-1 — the Owls are the dregs of the conference.
Inconsistency has been a common theme throughout the season, the team hasn’t stretched any winning streak larger than three, only hitting a three game streak once.
The interesting part about these Beacons is where they’re getting their production from when it’s going right. Their top scorer, Schallmo, is a freshman, and their second leading scorer? Kathryn Brown, also a freshman.
The first year out of Somers High School has scored five times this year, tied with junior Andrea Rivera. Both with 11 points on the season, and behind them, tied with seven, are freshmen Devan Booth and Daniella Celotto. Another freshman, Lucinda Cotter, follows them up with five points — it’s a youth movement at UMass Boston.
The young players are at the helm early on in their careers here, making a push for the playoffs and gaining experience. From this perspective, inconsistency makes sense. The Beacons are lacking veteran bodies up front making an impact.
Senior back Georgia Bonney and graduate student Caileigh Sullivan have played well in the back end, but Andrea Rivera is left with a tough job on the offensive end. Rivera is the only upperclassman forward with a goal this year.
It’s a hard line to walk — they need their vets to make an impact, and solve their inconsistency, but it’s been difficult to go away from their freshmen forces on offense. Head coach Amy Zombeck is tasked with a team with teetering offense, with just three games remaining.
UMass Boston will finish their season with two of three games against LEC opponents, Vermont State and Eastern Connecticut State. West Conn, who’s hot on their tail, will take on two LEC teams, as well in Rhode Island College, and the first-seeded Huskies.
The Beacons can clinch the two seed in the following scenarios: any UMass Boston win, plus a West Conn Loss; wins in both conference matchups from both the Beacons and the Wolves; or losses in both conference matchups from both the Beacons and the Wolves.
