Dynamic Duo at Heart of Defensive Prowess
Oct 21 | Women's Soccer
By Tom Luicci
ScarletKnights.com
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The national statistics support what almost everyone at Rutgers already knows: The Scarlet Knights' women's soccer team boasts one of the best defenses in the country.
The reasons behind that success? Beyond having one of the college game's premier goalkeepers in sophomore Casey Murphy, it might be the result of a growth spurt and a natural aptitude for the sport.
That's essentially how senior center backs Brianne Reed and Erica Skroski, whom coach Mike O'Neill calls "two of the best in the country," came to be one of the nation's most effective defensive tandems, with No. 12-ranked Rutgers (12-2-2 overall, 5-2-2 Big Ten) set to close out the home portion of its regular season when No. 19-ranked Minnesota visits Yurcak Field Friday night.
Reed, an All-America candidate, was torn between gymnastics and soccer when she was told by her coaches in both sports at the age of 13 that it was time to devote herself full time to just one.
"The coaches told me `You can't do both,' " Reed said. "I felt I was getting a little too tall to do gymnastics. I don't know exactly how tall I was but my toes were hitting the bar when I was doing routines. I was like, you know what? I do love soccer and I do love gymnastics but it is time to choose. My coach for gymnastics had just moved to another state. So that was a big factor, too. So I wound up going with soccer."
Though Skroski became involved in a variety of sports "from the time I could walk," she said "soccer is the one that stuck."
"I picked it up right away. I can't explain it," she said. "I remember being on the field and knowing the game, picking it up immediately, and not just technically but in terms of soccer smarts too. So I stayed with it."
With a connection on the field that doesn't have to rely on verbal communication, the two New Jersey high school products are the driving forces on a defense that has recorded 13 shutouts this season and ranks No. 2 nationally in goals-against average at 0.24. The Scarlet Knights are also tied for second nationally in shutout percentage (.930).
"She's my right hand. I step right, she steps left. I go up, she goes down," said Skroski, who hails from Galloway and starred at Absegami High School. "We just click. Everything we do is together. It's an unspoken communication. We always know where the other one will be. You can see it in our play. I'll go up against one person and she'll drop. If I miss a tackle she'll be behind me. She's an awesome person on and off the field.
"I couldn't imagine playing my college career without her next to me."
Reed, a candidate for the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy, has received the lion's share of the recognition for her play and Rutgers' stifling defense. She was just named to TopDrawerSoccer.com's Midseason National Top 100 players list.
But the Tinton Falls native and former Red Bank Catholic standout understands exactly how much Skroski has contributed to her success.
"It's tough to get recognition as a defender and I've been fortunate to get some," Reed said. "Part of the reason for that is I get to play with (Skroski), who deserves way more recognition than she gets. I wouldn't be half the player I am without having her next to me."
Skroski said "the second we started playing together it clicked."
"That's one of the biggest reasons for our success, the two of us knowing each other so well," she said.
O'Neill has a full appreciation for what both have meant. No one on the Scarlet Knights' roster will talk about the goals beyond the regular-season finale at Iowa on Oct. 28, but a run at a Big Ten championship and a run in the NCAA Tournament are very much within this team's reach.
"I feel spoiled to be honest, because they're two of the best center backs in the country," O'Neill said. "We talk so much about relationships and having the relationship of those two players in the back and the relationship in the center of the park is critical for success. They've spent four years together. You've watched them grow as people and as players and they have this bond that is really special to watch.
"It's such an important position to the success of any team and we feel we have two of the best center backs in the country."
