Jonathan Hicks, Contributor
The Kennesaw State women’s soccer team opens play this week against Alabama A&M coming off the back of a breakthrough season. One thing that the Owls will be looking for is a hot start.
After a season that lacked a bit of the consistency that they would hope to have, the Owls were able to put together the final product when it mattered most. The team has lost four seniors since reaching the Atlantic Sun Championship last November. But despite having a younger squad, there is no shortage of optimism in the Owl’s locker room. Head coach Rob King hopes to take the momentum from the tail end of last season and take it into the opening game.
“We’d obviously like to get back to playing a championship at the end of the season, but ideally we’d like to take a different path to get there,” King said.
The Owls ended last season with a 8-11-1 record, 3-4-0 in the conference. Increasing their win total is something that the players will push for. “I’d like to get back to the championship where we were last season, but we’d really like to have a better overall season,” said junior Maggie Gaughan, KSU’s leading scorer last year.
A priority for the Owls this season will be to improve conference play and increase their overall seeding entering the playoffs. A lack of goals was one of the main struggles that the team faced last year, something that needs be addressed according to midfielder Hannah Churchill.
“Last year we struggled to put the ball in the net,” she said. “We’ve always done well to get there, but if we can put the final product in I think we’ll be good.”
One player that didn’t have too much trouble putting the ball in the net last season was Gaughan, tallying six goals and one assist in 16 games. Gaughan was recognized alongside midfielder Brittany Reed with a spot on the A-Sun Conference Second Team and First Team, respectively.
Along with goal scoring, defensive cohesion and communication are some of the major things that the team is working on for the upcoming season. “We would really like to focus on possession and our shape and then eventually I would like to be able to possess more than the other teams when we play against them,” said sophomore defender Abby Roth.
The team will be looking for leadership among its more experienced players in the opening match of the year, something that will be crucial to recreating the momentum found in the latter parts of last season. The Women’s Soccer team will be a team to watch this fall, and with the season looming consistency will be the name of the game for King’s team. The Owls open the season this Friday at 7:00 with a home game against Alabama A&M.
