The 2017 season has been a successful one for the women’s soccer team. The team has played 10 games so far and currently has a record of eight wins, one loss, and one tie. They even recorded six shutouts in the last seven games.
“Last year we lost nine seniors, and so we lost eight starters. We began this season with three starters and to be where we are right now, first place in the conference and having 8-1-1; it’s the best start in the program’s history,” said Barry Elkins, head coach. Elkins said that there have been improvements and the team has adjusted well to the new members. He believes that the mental part of the game is where they have grown the most as a team.
“Having to try our hardest – game in and game out – is where we have grown the most,” Elkins said. “This helped with our win against UT Tyler and it’s the first time we have beat them since 2005. That was probably the most complete game we’ve played.” Junior exercise and sports science major Sydney Rangel has been on the team since she was a freshman. She played defense mid-center until this year. Now, as center back she helps guard the goal and keeps the ball away from the net. She has two main goals for this season: win the conference and go to nationals.
“A smaller goal that I want to accomplish is to beat the Hardin Simmons team. They would probably be the hardest team we will play,” Rangel said.
Amanda Carlough is a senior nursing major who has also played on the team since she started as a freshman. Carlough plays as the center-mid and helps the team make plays while on the field. She explained that her job is to keep the ball going.
“We set people up to score, or sometimes we even try to switch things up. If we are playing on the left side and no one is on the right then we try to move to the right,” she said. There are seven games left in the season to work on these strategies. Things are looking up and if they continue to win, the Cru will have a great shot at nationals this November and December.
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