The women's soccer team opened up their 2012 campaign with a 2-0 win over LIU Brooklyn on Friday night at Owen T. Carroll Field.
Redshirt senior forward Stephanie Soma scored the first goal in the 18rd minute off a crisp pass from junior midfielder Amie Ruhe.
The win improves the Pirates record to 13-4-1 all-time in season openers
The Pirates played aggressively on offense the entire match, outshooting the Blackbirds 13-6.
Head coach for the Pirates, Kazbek Tambi, said the team's fitness had much to do with the offensive success.
"Some of the key issues for us (in the offseason) were ensuring that the kids stayed fit," said Tambi, who is entering his sixth year as the Pirate coach. "In the past we had difficulty were enough players didn't maintain fitness level. Our preseason is way too short. Within two weeks we have our first game."
In goal for the Pirates was freshman Gina Maiorana, who shut out the Blackbirds, a team which scored 33 goals last season.
Alongside Maiorana two other freshman started, defenders Alexis Urbanski and D'Yanna Riley.
Tambi said the age of the player is irrelevant in regards to the performance level of the player and how the team views younger players.
"For us we don't look at them as freshman, sophomores, juniors or seniors," Tambi said. "We look at them as soccer players."
The second goal for the Pirates came in the 73rd minute in a reversal of the first goal. Ruhe scored on a pass from Soma.
Much of the game was played in Blackbird territory, which Tambi said was the pace of Pirate play.
"We pride ourselves in trying to play a high level game where we can use our excellent skills and possess the ball and tonight was a good night in that regard," Tambi said.
The Pirates were denied a goal seven times out of their nine shots on goal throughout the game. Tambi said this has to do with the players' composure during the game
"You can practice all day, but the game is different than training," Tambi said.
Looking ahead, Tambi said he feels the team can always improve, considering the team has only been together for two weeks.
"Everybody can get better here," Tambi said. "We want to play well every game."
TJ Brennan can be reached at thomas.brennan@student.shu.edu.
