Belles bolster for tough road game against Hope
By SARAH RYKOWSKI
Sports Writer
The Belles hope to outgun the Flying Dutchmen in an away match today.
"Yesterday we had a really good, intensive practice," sophomore forward Shawna Jiannoni said. "If we play tomorrow like we practiced [this week], the game is ours. We just have to put the intensity and effort into it."
After the shutout loss to top-ranked Albion, the Belles spent Monday and Tuesday working on their shots and filling in holes in their lineup.
Saint Mary's soccer will face the Flying Dutchmen without two of their top defensemen, Alissa Brasseur and Jessica Klink. Brasseur is out for the season with a foot injury and Klink, Belles tri-captain, is out at least for this game. Both women play sweeper.
"Alissa [Brasseur] and Klink are both core defenders," Jiannoni said. "Whoever replaces them will have to do some moving to make up for what we've lost."
Saint Mary's feels that practice will fill in those gaps and turn around the offensive problems.
"We've been practicing really well lately," sophomore Lynn Taylor said. "Hopefully our injuries will not hold us back. We'll be able to adjust but our offense will have to step it up."
The Flying Dutchmen are looking for their second win of the season, as they will enter Wednesday's contest with a 1-7-1 record overall and are 1-4-1 in the MIAA under first-year head coach Leigh Sears.
They defeated Adrian on September 12 in a 3-0 shutout victory, but otherwise have suffered defeats at the hands of Calvin, Albion, Kalamazoo, and Olivet, as well as non-league losses to Wheaton, and Aquinas.
The Flying Dutchmen opened the 2000 season facing their new coach's alma mater, Ohio Wesleyan, and were shut out 13-0.
"I think we can definitely compete against them," Taylor said. "I'm ready for a well-played game."
Unlike the Belles, the Dutchmen return most of their 1999 squad.
Although sophomore tri-captain Laura Splinter was given the starting job in goal at the start of the season, freshman goaltender Lauren Hinkle has seen most of the action in the net this season, and has only allowed 20 goals since the first game against Ohio Wesleyan.
Junior Amy Dobb leads the Dutchmen with 3 goals this season, tied with Stephanie Artnak, who has scored 3 goals on penalty kicks for the Belles. Hope's 1999 All-MIAA players, Emilie Dirkse and Lindsey O'Dell, also return. Dirkse was also named All-MIAA in 1998.
"We need to build team chemistry," Jiannoni said. "We are working on it, and its coming on slowly but surely. That's flat out what we need to win tomorrow."
In the 1999 match-up between the Belles and the Dutchmen, the Belles fell 2-1, with the lone Saint Mary's goal coming from veteran scorer Heather Muth. The Dutchmen finished that season 8-9-1 overall and 5-3-0 in the MIAA to just beat out the Belles for fourth place in the final conference standings.
"We're working hard for this game," Kristin Priganc, junior forward, said. "We need to go in with a positive mental attitude and then we will walk away with a win."
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, October 4, 2000
