Jaci Kohn
Staff writer
With a 1-0 loss in the OVC Championships, the season came to a close for the women’s soccer team.
The team ended its season with a 7-9-3 overall record. For the second time in less than a week, the Racers fell to Morehead State University.
“The style of play from Morehead is a little different then what we are used to,” Coach Beth Acreman said. “We had to change the way we played a little bit and they came out with the result and we didn’t.”
In the second half the Racers tied it up only with a corner kick, only to have it disallowed a minute later.
“That kind of knocked the wind out of our sails a little bit,” Acreman said. “We had a couple of other chances where I think we could have tied it up. It just seemed like that night wasn’t our night. It was just a little bit of a disappointing evening for everybody.”
Though the outcome wasn’t what they wanted, the Racers learned a lot during the short OVC play, Acreman said, the younger players gaining the most from this experience.
“We were disappointed that we couldn’t have done better,” she said. “I think they now understand what the OVC is about and the types of teams we play. We are going to be training really hard in the spring to get ourselves back where we need to be and I think they are very committed to doing that.”
This season the team had a lot of newcomers in the program and Acreman said she knew it would be challenging during the year, however she is very proud of what her player have.
“We’ve learned a ton this year, especially our new players,” she said. “From goal keeper to defender, to midfields and forwards, they’ve all had a lot of experience. Some of then need to get a little experience just playing at this level, especially the ones coming out of high school, the international players as well, just learning how it is to play in America. There have been a lot of great things accomplished over the season.”
Acreman said she is proud of her three seniors: Maja Nordahl, Sophie Hargreaves and Ashley Green.
“They did a great job for us, they were consistent in games,” she said. “It was just sad that we couldn’t have done more for their final game. I am very proud of all the new ones and how well they’ve coped coming into a new season, my staff as well. I think they have put a lot of effort and energy into this team. We’ve had our stresses together, we’ve had our joys together and I couldn’t ask for a better staff.”
Sophie Hargreaves, midfielder from Leeds, England, said her final season was respectable.
“We made it to the tournament, which is always a goal for us,” Hargreaves said. “Obviously we would have loved to have won the OVC, but considering how we started the season I think it turned into a success. People wrote us off in the beginning and we did really well to turn it around and qualify forth for the tournament.”
The team has gotten a lot closer during the season and developed into a tight knit group, Hargreaves said.
“We have a really good bond together and that only got more intense as the season progressed,” she said. “We also learned how each other played and figured out what each others strengths were so we could play to them. This helped us a lot to be more successful towards the end of the season.”
During the spring the team will start preparing for the next season and will be pushing the players hard to return to their winning ways, Acreman said.
“When I came here I wanted to win championships and we have done that but we need to make sure we continue doing that,” Acreman said. “Next season we are going to be training hard to get back on top and contending to get another ring for the program.”
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