Injuries Plague the Lady Mustangs (W Soccer)

by Joshua Crockett '10
Editor in Chief

The lady Mustangs entered a season of change. Due to the departure of former Varsity Soccer Coach, Stacy Oldenburg, Coach George Hunt was brought in to continue the woman's soccer program. After the 2007-2008 season's run to the playoffs, expectations for this year were higher than ever to continue in playoff bound direction. However, no one could predict the tumultuous and injury filled season that the 2008-2009 season would hold.
In a game verses St. Marys Ryken, one of the ladies starting defenders, Alex Vinci '11, was sidelined by an ACL tear. Five days prior to this injury, Ashley Sharp '11, suffered a torn ACL and injured MCL. She says, "Some girl was dribbling across our defense, and I stuck my foot out, and I guess I put too much weight on it." I asked her, "Was it an underhanded or dirty play?" She assures me it was just by chance. However, the way she fell gave the appearance that it may have been a foul.
With ACL tears occurring with athletes throughout our school community,is there something they can do to avoid these injuries? Jessica Nash, the school's athletic trainer, says, "There are four majors ligaments in your knee; ACL, MCL, LCL, and the PCL. The ACL is one of the most important ligaments because it helps prevent the lower half of your leg from moving forward. Without that making cutting motions is either painful or impossible."
I wanted to know if there were specific ways to prevent this from happening. She answered, "Yes and No. Unfortunately with girls they can do a lot of the strengthening and agility exercises but because they are girls, they are finding that some of the hormone differences between men and women has something to do with it at a different time of the month."
Often, coaches place a huge emphasis on stretching. Does this stretching play a major role in the prevention of these season, ending ligament tears? Ms. Nash says, "NO not at all, out of one hundred it might be one percent."
How did these injuries affect the team's morale? Senior Captain Brieanna Yon says, "Of course injuries are a big thing because losing good players kind of weakens the team."
With these injuries came opportunities for J.V. players to move up and play on the highest level. These players rose to the occasion and even impressed a few people. Yon says, "Players that weren't really that experienced like Duneia and Taylor came and they were basketball players, but the fact that they could play varsity and stay up with other girls makes me want to make sure they come back next year. They are some of the good players that we need." Duneia McManus '10 admits that Varsity was definitely a new experience saying, " I had never played soccer like this."
With all of these injuries, the lady Mustangs still found themselves in the playoffs after defeating Bishop Ireton to enter the playoffs. However, they would have to defeat conference favorite, St. Johns College High School, which entered the game as the number one seed.
The lady Mustangs entered the WCAC quarterfinals with will and determination. They fought the elements and one of the most high powered offensive teams in the area. However, they came up short, losing the game 4-1. The lady mustangs were down 1-0 going into the second half. Mikayla Baumgartner '11 scored their lone goal seven minutes into the second half but to no avail.
Next year's season looks to be promising. With a nucleus of returning varsity players, the Mustangs are equipped with a team that could very easily surpass the 4-10-3 record of the 2008 season.

By Bishop McNamara HS |  November 18, 2008; 1:59 PM ET Soccer
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