soccerfanatic
Active member
The ISU soccer team may have finally turned the corner and may be approaching a level of play that will put them back into the conference championship game. Too true... they are only 3-4 on the season, but they have already matched their number of wins from last year.
Although the team had flashes of brilliance in their first five games, it was evident that this was a team loaded with inexperienced freshmen and veterans who were down on their confidence. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year, and only in fits of extreme optimism did anyone expect more. Plus, it has also been a terrible season for injuries with three probable starters on the sideline for the entire year. Thank goodness we had a easier preseason. (The last two years, our preseason looked more like what the Bengal football team is experiencing this year - except the soccer players held their own a little better.)
What I have seen in the last two games has given me new hope for this year. Coach Gibson started a new lineup and seems to have found some magic. Moving Kacey Ball and Megan Stainbrook up on offense has injected this team with new offensive enthusiasm. I have enjoyed seeing Lauren Ryan work with Ashley Jones in the midfield, and AnnaMarie Hofstetter and Rachel Strawn have rounded out the offense with experienced control and youthful enthusiasm. (By the way, as a freshman, Rachel has the second highest assist per game average in school history.) The defense is solid in the back with Bailey Williams in goal, Karissa Henage-Fisher and Morgan Olsen in the middle, and Christiana Beseris and Lauren Hough on the wings. (Now, if Hough could just get healthy enough to last a whole game, we would be in great shape. Uninjured, she never left the field last year.) Notice, this lineup features 3 seniors, 3 juniors, 2 sophomores, and 3 freshman - a great way to create balance in future years.
The main difference I see in this lineup is team aggressiveness. This team is capable of sustaining pressure on opposing defenses. Plus, the team seems to be stringing a run of good passes together much better than they were doing early in the year.
The team is still developing and they have two more tough games before conference play begins. But if they keep developing the way they have over the past two games, I expect to see them in the conference tournament. And then, anything could happen.
Although the team had flashes of brilliance in their first five games, it was evident that this was a team loaded with inexperienced freshmen and veterans who were down on their confidence. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year, and only in fits of extreme optimism did anyone expect more. Plus, it has also been a terrible season for injuries with three probable starters on the sideline for the entire year. Thank goodness we had a easier preseason. (The last two years, our preseason looked more like what the Bengal football team is experiencing this year - except the soccer players held their own a little better.)
What I have seen in the last two games has given me new hope for this year. Coach Gibson started a new lineup and seems to have found some magic. Moving Kacey Ball and Megan Stainbrook up on offense has injected this team with new offensive enthusiasm. I have enjoyed seeing Lauren Ryan work with Ashley Jones in the midfield, and AnnaMarie Hofstetter and Rachel Strawn have rounded out the offense with experienced control and youthful enthusiasm. (By the way, as a freshman, Rachel has the second highest assist per game average in school history.) The defense is solid in the back with Bailey Williams in goal, Karissa Henage-Fisher and Morgan Olsen in the middle, and Christiana Beseris and Lauren Hough on the wings. (Now, if Hough could just get healthy enough to last a whole game, we would be in great shape. Uninjured, she never left the field last year.) Notice, this lineup features 3 seniors, 3 juniors, 2 sophomores, and 3 freshman - a great way to create balance in future years.
The main difference I see in this lineup is team aggressiveness. This team is capable of sustaining pressure on opposing defenses. Plus, the team seems to be stringing a run of good passes together much better than they were doing early in the year.
The team is still developing and they have two more tough games before conference play begins. But if they keep developing the way they have over the past two games, I expect to see them in the conference tournament. And then, anything could happen.
