The University women’s soccer team is hoping that the saying, “There’s no place like home,” rings true this weekend. The squad returns to Cochrane Field after five consecutive road games.
The team will kickoff against Mid-American Conference foe Ohio University tomorrow. University coach Andy Richards has high hopes for the outcome.
“Our hopes are that we win the game,” he said. “In the history of the program, we’ve never beaten them. Ohio is a very good program. They’re very good every year. We need to be in respect of them.”
Ohio has a 1-3-0 record in the MAC and is 3-7-0 overall. The Bobcats are led in scoring by Maggie Rojas-Alford with three goals, including OU’s lone score in Sunday’s 2-1 loss at Western Michigan. Larissa Najjar leads the team with three assists. Keeper Melissa Parra has started all 10 games for the Bobcats and enters this weekend with a .757 save percentage.
Beating the Bobcats would not only help the Falcons change history, it would also boost their MAC record which is currently an even 2-2-0.
The Falcons will have another chance to improve their conference record when they play Akron on Sunday.
“Akron is another good team,” Richards said. “They’ve not got quite as good a record as they should have, so they’ll come out fighting.”
The Zips are 0-4-0 in the league (2-8-1 overall) and are hungry for their first MAC victory. They are also hoping to snap a six-game losing streak. Leslie Bullen provides the offensive spark for the Zips, scoring three of the team’s seven goals this season.
The Falcons will attempt to counter both teams with their talented roster. The squad is led in scoring by Britt Anderson and Samantha Meister with five goals apiece. Julie Trundle leads the team in assists with nine on the season. Corbie Yee and Kristin McDonald, both freshmen, have added a new offensive spark, scoring a combined five goals this season between them.
Richards has been working with the team on ways to beat both Akron and Ohio.
“We’ve worked a little bit on style of play,” he said. “There are things that they both [Ohio and Akron] do that we want to counteract.”
The squad continues to focus on becoming a more consistent team and relying on their strengths to carry them through a tough MAC schedule.
“Our strengths, when we play to our potential, are that we’re pretty creative,” Richards said. “We’re able to score from different positions and we’re tight in the back. We’re a little inconsistent and that’s something we really have to work on this week and in the coming weeks. It’s really a mentality more than anything.”
If all goes well, the Falcons’ mentality will be in the right place by 4 p.m. this afternoon when they kickoff against the Bobcats. Kickoff for Sunday’s match will be at noon.
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