The Asbury women’s soccer season is already half over.
The women had a rough start to the season with a string of losses and ties for the first few weeks. However, the challenges have motivated them to play to their potential.
“I think it helped us to strive more towards winning instead of just settling back,” junior Maya Thomas said. “We drove more to fixing stuff and finding our errors to improve on.”
Since then, they have put more emphasis on raining in the areas where they saw they were struggling.
“We have worked on a lot more different drills and practice with transitioning or like being in the box for PKs or shots on goal. So we’ve definitely worked toward, after watching film, what we need to do to get better,” Thomas said.
“As of right now we are working on set pieces and corner kicks to clear them and get them our of our defensive line,” said Isabelle Peterson, a junior midifelder.
In the next few games, the women are hoping to perform well and finish off their season with a good record, but so far, they have seen what they can do against more competitive DIII schools.
“It’s gone pretty good. We’ve made a lot of different strides to get forward in the season. We’ve played a lot of tougher teams, and we have gone really well up against them. It has helped us to move forward and get a lot more goals and become more competitive as a team,” Thomas said.
On Saturday, Oct. 1, they competed against DePauw and lost 4-0. They were able to have 14 shots on goal, and sophomore goalkeeper Maylia Crump was able to save 12 shots on the Asbury goal.
“Yesterday’s game was disappointing. I wish I could have saved those goals, but that is the game of soccer. We still have several games left in this season, and I’m hopeful we can turn things around,” Crump said.
This season has had its difficulties and the team is taking every game as a chance to build their team and come together.
“I would say that this season is a season of rebuilding. We lost a lot of seniors last year, and we’re still trying some new formations to figure out what works. We’ve had our freshmen come in and make an immediate impact. I am excited for the growth and development of this team, Crump said.
The incoming freshman have a big impact on the team and although there is always an adjustment period, they can already see improvements. Following the loss, freshman Sydney Tucker told Asbury Athletics that they are still looking forward to what the season holds.
“We haven’t started the season off strong, but we are very fresh and new and are learning to adjust who goes where. We are a very flexible team and are making improvements every day. I cannot wait to see what we accomplish as a team moving forward,” Tucker said.
On Tuesday, they went up against Dension University and finished with a
“I felt like we played very good in the first half. We were making the passes and communicating. In the other half, to be honest, the other team came off strong; you could tell they wanted to win it, and they put the effort in, and our team dropped off at the end. We played tough, but we just couldn’t put it all together” Peterson said.
The women compete next tomorrow, Oct. 8, against Trine University in Angola, Indiana, at 3 p.m.
According to their schedule, three of their last six games of the season are set to be held here the next two Wednesdays and Monday, Oct. 24.
