This October, the Towson women?s soccer team has something for which to play.
At 9-5-2 overall and 3-4-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association, first-year coach Greg Paynter has the Tigers in position to qualify for their first conference tournament berth since losing in penalty kicks to Hofstra in the American East tournament play-in game in 2001.
Towson has emerged as one of the league?s most improved teams after going 5-11-2 overall, including a horrendous 1-9-1 in league play.
“I knew this team would be able to compete with anybody,” Paynter, who was an assistant coach at James Madison for eight years before coming to Towson this season, said. “In the past, Towson was a team that could compete with anyone, but not be able to finish them off. But this team has developed a winning mentality.”
The team displayed its resiliency this past weekend. After suffering a 4-1 loss to CAA-leading William & Mary on Friday, the team rebounded against Old Dominion. Despite being outshot, 14-7, the Tigers pulled out a 1-0 victory on a goal by sophomore forward Kaitlyn Zamroz, whose team-high eighth goal lifted her team into a sixth-place tie ? the last playoff spot ? with Old Dominion.
Towson has three games left that will decided its playoff fate: at James Madison (13-2-1, 6-1-1) on Friday, hosting Virginia Commonwealth (8-7-1, 5-3) on Sunday and at George Mason (7-8, 3-5) on Nov. 1.
“I think we believe in ourselves a lot more than we did last year,” Brandi Daniels, senior goalie and reigning first-team All-CAA selection, said. “We actually see results beating other teams. We don?t give up on ourselves like we did last year.”
And even if the Tigers don?t reach their goal of qualifying for the CAA playoffs in Virginia Beach, Va., this season has already been a success in changing the direction of the program.
Zamroz, who tore her left anterior cruciate ligament last season, returned to lead the offense, proving that she should be a reliable scorer for the next two years. Sophomores Erica Marshall, a forward, is second on the team with 4 goals and 3 assists, and Brittany Hadaway, a midfielder, has started all 15 games and has 2 goals and an assist.
“We have gotten contributions from a lot of freshmen early in the season and have a good mix of sophomores and juniors,” Paynter said. “They are learning the culture [we are building].”
