The men\u2019s soccer team defeated Southwest Baptist 3-0 Saturday, Sept.16, at home. Head coach Joe Ireland said he thought the team played well and that the players will continue to improve as the season progress.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest thing we need to improve right now is our offensive unit,\u201d Ireland said. \u201cTrying to build better cohesion and understanding how to move off the ball better will be top priorities for us this week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ireland said that this game provided the team confidence for the upcoming conference games.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur team applied high pressure against Southwest Baptist . . . The stats show clearly that we had 35 shots, while Southwest Baptist only had five the whole game,\u201d Said midfielder Andre Cunha. \u201cI think we are on the right way, the season just started, and I hope everything will go really well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scoring three goals brought Harding to 1-3-2 on the season with Great American Conference (GAC) games. Southwest Baptist, a member of the MIAA, moved to 0-5-0.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a huge conference game at home Thursday night at 7 p.m. against Southern Nazarene,\u201d Ireland said. \u201cThis is always a very physical and tough game to play. We are excited to be playing at home and hope to get a great crowd out to support our team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harding scored three goals during the last half. Defender Christian Ramos shot from left side inside the box; forward Braeden Grundy took a long looping pass; and defender Andre Cunha made a free kick from left, just outside the box.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur defender (Ramos) came to me after half time and asked me for a permission to score and he scored the first goal,\u201d Ireland said.<\/p>\n
According to Cunha, Harding was more prepared for this matchup.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis game was important for our team,\u201d midfielder Matheus Ribeiro said. \u201cThe only result we were expecting was to win. I feel we have a strong team this season, and with this game we have shown who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted this victory more. We wanted the crowd to be impressed by us and to come back the next game,\u201d Cunha said. \u201cI scored my third goal in the season in five games, which is great. It finished the game with one hundred percent confidence that we are a great team and great things will happen in this season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Players hope that Harding family keeps supporting them this year because it helps the team to do their best on the field.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Written by\u00a0Alexandra Regida<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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