FULTON, Mo.—The William Woods University women's soccer team will look to grab its first win on the 2015 season in front of the home crowd on Thursday night, as the Owls host Avila University at Firley Field. Kick-off will start at 7 p.m.
The Owls (0-2), are coming off a tough 5-0 loss against No. 6-ranked Benedictine College, back on August 30
th. The team has played a tough non-conference schedule to start the year, as its season opening game was against the No. 23-ranked Missouri Valley College Vikings, and WWU fell in that outing, 2-0.
The team is adjusting to a new lineup that features 10 new starters, and despite the 0-2 start, head coach
Randy Hall sees a lot of things he likes out of the gate so far. "In the first two games, we've had three pretty good halves, against top quality NAIA competition. I'm really pleased with the development of our players, as playing two top-25 teams' is a challenge, even when you're full of seniors, to put two games back-to-back like that in a 48 hour period is a challenge to any group."
He added, "I feel like we really raised the bar in the second half against Benedictine, as even though the score line wasn't fantastic, the notes that we got to make both at halftime and see them apply it in the second half was very tremendous to grow quickly."
Coach Hall, however, would like to see some the team adjust to some other things, as offensively, WWU has totaled nine shots in the first two games and has hopes of hopes of that number rising soon, "I'd like to see us go forward with more passion, but when you're playing against the No. 6-ranked team in the country, their greatest strength is its attack, which is difficult to organize and put you on your heels. I'd like us try to deal with that better."
For a team with 10 new starters, two of them being freshman and other returners seeing an increase in playing time, this team has shown a lot of resiliency so far and early on it can be an adjustment period from not only high school to college soccer, but also of getting comfortable on the field together.
"I also think it's a matter of everyone making adjustments, especially in this preseason and early season," Hall said. "Not just the players either, the staff as well has to adjust to new individuals, how to best motivate them, how to help the players understand what is needed and understanding one another in general."
He added, "I think the entire program is in midst of an adjustment, especially with the number of players we are asking to play and in a position they may not be used to playing in due to injuries. What I'm seeing out of this group though is the ability to adapt and to apply new concepts and information, which should lead to really good things for us in the long run."
Avila University (0-2), meanwhile, will arrive at WWU, also looking for its first win on the 2015 season, as they fell against two American Midwest Conference (AMC) teams to start the year. In its home opener, the Eagles fell 3-1 to Columbia College and on August 29
th, the team dropped a 2-1 outing against Park University.
Finding the back of the net thus far for Avila, includes Kennedy Doustou and Keeley Audas, while in net, Shea Myer has played in 178:04 minutes, making 11 saves and has allowed five goals.
"We're focused on our group in this upcoming game, as we are working on a set of different scenarios and now we are going to look at these next few games at another way we would like to play. We'll see which one is best panning out for the group and what chemistry will work on the field, as we try to find that right catalyst that leads to success," said Hall.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and score from Firley Field.
