The men’s soccer team kicked off the season in a new conference last night .
Men’s soccer coach Odie Guzman said that going into a new conference this season gives him hope to be one of the soccer powerhouses in that conference. Guzman also hopes to develop a winning record for the first time.
“Our program hasn’t had a winning record since we were established,” Guzman said. “This year hopefully we will be successful on the field and in our new conference.”
The results for last night’s game against Christian Brothers University were not yet available at the time of printing.
While training for preseason, Guzman said that everything went well and the guys worked hard through fitness tests and long practices, and they worked on shape and organization.
“Just playing from the back, playing through our midfielders and playing up top — that’s what the majority of it was,” Guzman said.
Some of the teams Harding will play against are Fort Hays University, which is No. 1 in conference, Lindenwood University and North Eastern State University, which Guzman said the team is most anxious to play.
“I would like to see how our guys match up to them,” Guzman said. “They played a division one school and ended up beating them.”
Senior midfielder Josh Ireland said that he started training this summer for the upcoming season.
“Me and my little brother, who’s on the team, did a lot of running and a lot of sprints to get prepared,” Ireland said. “Coming into preseason, I was very impressed with all the other teammates who did very well on the team fitness test.”
Senior outside midfielder Victor Moya said he ran, went to the weight room and mentally prepared himself to train for this season as well.
The men’s team has its next match tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. against John Brown University at home.
The women’s soccer team also had their season opener last night against Christian Brothers in Memphis. Their next match is before the men’s game at 5 p.m. tomorrow also against John Brown University.
Head coach Greg Harris said that while training for this season, the girls worked very hard. He stated how well they work together and how family-oriented everyone is.
“This is a passionate group and one of the closest groups I’ve had,” Harris said. “Practice has gone well, and it’s very promising.”
Harris has been coaching since 2001 and became the women’s soccer coach at Harding last year. He coached men’s before but he has coached both teams for 10 years.
Harris said he wants his team to go out there with a good work ethic and play hard.
“I really want to focus on us being the best team that we can be,” Harris said. “Whether it’s in practice, a walkthrough or a game.”
