KSU’s soccer team, which began preseason camp this week, was already at a disadvantage when it showed up at Fifth Third Bank Stadium on Friday night for its exhibition against the Wofford Terriers.
The Owls’ only goalkeeper on roster, freshman Olivia Sturdivant, wasn’t available for the contest, though KSU head coach Rob King preferred not to specify the type or severity of her injury. That left two veteran defenders, junior Nicole Calder and redshirt junior Jewelia Strickland, to experiment under the net.
“We’ve got a keeper injury, so we’ve had to juggle around a little bit,” King said. “I’m very pleased that we had a couple of kids step up and say, ‘Yeah, we’ll cover that tonight.’” Wofford took advantage
of the Owls’ depth problems, running away with a 3-0 victory, despite being outshot 12 to six. KSU’s inexperience in the goal couldn’t have been more apparent in the 58th minute, when Wofford’s Chloe Brackett stole the ball from Strickland, who was approaching it for a routine pickup. Brackett was unopposed as she casually scored the Terrier’s second goal of the contest.
Despite the goalie situation, King saw many positives from his team.
“If you put the score aside, I was quite pleased with a lot of things we did,” King said.
“We’ve been going two-a- days, so we’ve been working really hard,” King said. “By the time we get into our season I think we are going to be fine.” While being shorthanded at goalie, the Owls’ roster size is more beefed with 21 players, as opposed to just 17 from last season’s team, which finished 10-8-1. “As far as our overall squad size, we’re deeper and we’ve got a lot of coverage at each position, so that’s pleasing,” King said.
Six players for KSU substituted in the exhibition, as opposed to 11 for Wofford. Of the participating players was KSU’s junior midfielder Julia Nelson, who had just returned from earning a Gold medal for the U.S. Deaf Soccer Women’s National Team in the 22nd Summer Deaflympics in Sofia, Bulgaria. It was Nelson’s second-straight year in the tournament. “It was fantastic that she had that opportunity. Any time that you are playing World Cup, or Olympics, that’s a great accomplishment,” King said. “We’re just trying to get her up to speed because obviously she was in Bulgaria until the early part of this week.”
“We’re getting her back to full speed,” King said.
Nelson did not accumulate any stats during the contest. KSU’s most potent scorer, Katrina Frost, had a good look at the goal early in the game and just missed above the crossbar.
Redshirt freshman defender, Brittney Reed, surprised as she led the team with three shot attempts, while the talented Danielle Grey led with two shots on goal.
King also felt good about the contributions of his newcomers. “We’ve got a lot of youngsters who are playing well,” King said. “I think Shannon Driscol played very well tonight for us. But across the board, Suzanne Arafa played well, Maggie Gaughan, and Cassidy Kemp going into the game, so yeah I’m very pleased with our freshman.”
Wofford opened the scoring in the 18th minute, when Katherine Whisenhunt assisted a header for Alex Kachulis, off a corner kick.
Anikka Jansson scored the final goal in the 70th minute, unassisted off a free kick.
KSU’s next exhibition will be held Saturday at 7 p.m. at Fifth Third Bank Stadium against Clayton State.
