Coming off of a Great American Conference (GAC) championship in 2015, Lady Bisons head coach Greg Harris said the women’s soccer team feels confident heading into its season opener today against Missouri Western State University (MWSU).<\/p>\n
“They are talented and they know it, but they are also young and capable of making silly mistakes,” Harris said. “We all know that, not just the coaches, but all of the players know that as well. We’re kind of in a place where we know we need to work, and that’s a good place because they’re not comfortable. They’re confident, but they’re not comfortable.”<\/p>\n
The Lady Bisons return five All-GAC players from last season and were picked to repeat as conference champions in the preseason poll. Junior Carley Stevens said the team learned a lot from last year’s senior class.<\/p>\n
“It’s hard going from being an underclassman to being an upperclassman and having to start stepping up and saying things to encourage and guide the rest of the team,” Stevens said. “We had a lot of really outspoken seniors last year, so having people that participated on that team last year will be good.”<\/p>\n
The Lady Bisons played in the NCAA Tournament last season for the first time since 2004, and, according to Harris, that contest was crucial to the growth of younger players.<\/p>\n
“Even in that NCAA Tournament game, a lot of those girls got minutes, so they’ve been to the highest point that our program has been to and have played in that kind of game,” Harris said. “Nothing is new for them. They’re experienced, they’re seasoned, and they have proven it in the offseason.”<\/p>\n
Senior McKenna Smith, who returned to the team this season after taking her sophomore and junior years off, said that the Lady Bisons’ closeness as a team will help them achieve their goal of another GAC title.<\/p>\n
“Mainly, we’re trying to win conference again,” Smith said. “We do have a lot of juniors and seniors, and even sophomores that got playing time last year. One of the biggest challenges in soccer is being able to play together as a team, so if you already have that connection, it makes things go a lot more smoothly.”<\/p>\n
Smith said that the team’s focus in practice has been defense. Harris said that although his teams in the past have typically been stronger on defense than on offense, this year is an exception.<\/p>\n
“This team potentially is more advanced offensively than any other team I’ve had, but on the flip side, we are a little shaky defensively, and we’re going to have to figure that out,” Harris said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Lady Bisons will play MWSU on Sept. 2, and Emporia State University on Sept. 4, both in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, as part of the MIAA\/GAC Challenge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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