A hamstring injury suffered 11 days ago continues to hamper Grant Hughes and the Washington College senior is expected to miss an extended period of time.
Hughes, a member of the first midfield, pulled his hamstring in the second quarter of a 15-7 loss to No. 11 Washington and Lee and did not return. He has sat out two games since the injury, and coach Jeff Shirk said Hughes attempted to practice on Monday, but could not finish.
"He tried to go today," Shirk said Monday. "He's still out. He's just not good enough. He tried to warm up in practice, and he just couldn't go."
Asked if there's a possibility that Hughes might not return until the beginning of April, Shirk said, "Yeah, we've got to look out for his safety and his well-being – just like we would with anybody else. Right now, he can't go full-speed, and if you can't go full-speed and there's an opportunity for you to get hurt, we don't want to put anybody in that position. So we're going to hold him out as long as we can afford to until the training staff says he's good to go and he's confident that he's good to go."
Hughes' absence has paved the way for junior Sid Looney, senior Luke Birnbaum and sophomore Stephen Goff Jr. to start in the midfield. In two games, that trio has combined for five goals on 34 shots and one assist.
Shirk acknowledged that unit has to improve its play for a Shoremen team that has limped to a 1-3 start.
"I think we're playing well from the standpoint that we're getting opportunities," he said of the first midfield. "But we're struggling with our shooting. Again, it's that learning curve. Sometimes we're not pulling the trigger when we should, and sometimes we're just making some poor decisions. We're playing OK, but we're not scoring enough goals when we're getting some great opportunities. We're working through it. Of course, it would be better with Grant, but we've got to get better without him because we don't have him right now."