Robinson ignites Pack win
Since the beginning of the season, the Nevada soccer team has endured several obstacles.“It’s been tough,” interim head coach Antoinette Marjanovic said. “It’s been just one more bit of adversity to face.”
The Wolf Pack lost its first game of the weekend 2-0 to Utah State Friday night, but dominated Louisiana Tech 4-1 Sunday afternoon. The Wolf Pack also received a needed boost with the return of one of the WAC’s most talented players.
Marjanovic renamed defender Randee Robinson to the roster on Thursday after she quit the team before the season started.
During 2006’s record-breaking season, Robinson, now a junior, was a key factor in the defense that led Nevada to a program high 12 shutouts and the first ever appearance in the NCAA tournament. She scored the Wolf Pack’s lone goal against Stanford as Nevada fell 2-1 in the first round.
In addition, Robinson started all 22 games in 2006 and was named to the all-WAC second team plus the WAC all-tournament team.
The junior defender was asked to return to the team due to all of the sudden injuries that had occurred, Marjanovic said.
Three weeks into the season, senior captain Jessica Wilcox tweaked her knee during a game, but continued to play.
However, after a second doctor’s opinion, it was decided that Wilcox would have to undergo surgery to fix the problem.
“It’s been hard because we kept building up and then we would get knocked down immediately after,” defender Patrice Godwin said.
While playing intrastate rival UNLV, sophomore defender Devin Noe was fighting for a ball when she was side tackled. The take-down resulted in a knee injury that was operated on the following Monday.
Noe will be in rehab for the next six months, Marjanovic said.
“That was a key injury when we lost Devin,” Marjanovic said. “She was really leading us in the back.”
After practicing with the team on Thursday, Robinson played for the last seven minutes of the game against the Aggies and played for the last 23 minutes of Louisiana Tech game.
Robinson had come to every home game so far this season, and Marjanovic had heard she might be interested in being back on the team.
She decided to call Robinson to see if she was interested, and Robinson was more than happy to come back to help the team.
“She was very positive about the offer and has been very positive in her return,” Marjanovic said. “She’s a great person and athlete and it’s good to have her back.”
And while Robinson’s play time was limited, she made defensive plays that looked as though she had never taken a minute off the field.
In her first minute of the Utah State game, Robinson went in for the ball and took out two Utah State forwards as well as herself.
During Sunday afternoon’s game, a Lady Techster forward was cruising down the field and nearly had goalkeeper Marie Cove in a one-on-one situation, but Robinson was right on her heels to steal the ball and clear it from the net.
“Randee has had a huge impact already,” Godwin said. “Any team that see’s Randee Robinson on the field is going to be scared no matter what. She’s just that kind of player.”
More importantly, Godwin said that Robinson has brought communication, confidence and comfort back to the defense, which have all been detrimental weaknesses this season.
With Friday’s loss, the Wolf Pack skidded to a three-game losing streak, but after Sunday’s convincing win, it looked as though Nevada had found its key to success.
“Graeme told us to stop feeling sorry for ourselves because it wasn’t doing us any good,” Godwin said.
Nevada finished Sunday’s game with 21 shots and 12 shots on goal, as compared to the Lady Techsters’ zero shots.
And now, with one more name on the roster, the team has players to fall back on for substitutions. Godwin, who has played 1,278 minutes so far this season, got her first minutes off in Sunday’s game.
“We needed an extra person so we could have someone to sub in and out because for a while we only had three people to do that with,” Marjanovic said.
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