Four women’s soccer starters are injured-two playing through the pain, and two that are relegated to the sidelines.
Junior midfielder Susan Frederickson broke her wrist in the Sept. 26 game against Duquesne but is still playing. Also still playing is freshman Andrea Barklage, who has an ankle injury. Junior midfielder Ashley Hayes is injured and is still out. Junior forward Julia Bradenberg is also out due to an ankle injury from the Sept. 21 game against Northwestern.
“We need to work through our injuries so we can get a better idea of where we are going,” head coach Tim Champion said. “If the injuries linger we will have to change our style of play and use the players we have.”
Bradenberg dealt with injuries in both her freshman and sophomore years. It was a hand injury two years ago that kept the junior forward from playing. Last year, she missed the first three games due to injury but came back to start the remaining 15 contests.
“I feel upset and I am determined to get back as soon as possible,” Bradenberg said describing her injury. “My goal is to play this weekend.”
These injuries may have contributed to the team’s loss against Fordham on Sept. 28.
“We played without Frederickson, Barklage, Hayes and Bradenberg,” Champion said. “We played a lot of young players, which ended up being a good thing because we found three or four more players.”
Senior Lauren Olson said traveling, playing in the rain and her teammates’ injuries were circumstances that contributed to the loss.
“These are circumstances but not excuses,” Olson said. “We just have to learn from them, be more prepared and overcome them in the future.”
Freshman midfielder Jessica Lopez recorded two shots in the Fordham loss. “We played pretty good but they capitalized on our mistakes.”
The team will play A-10 rivals Saint Joseph’s tomorrow and Temple on Oct. 12. Both games are at home.
“All the teams in the conference are similar; they are hard and aggressive,” Olson said. “We just have to match the other teams on aggression and get on top first before they can. It’s only the beginning; we are improving each game.”
