Gustavus Women’s Soccer team prepared to turn season around after a difficult start to Conference play
Despite some difficult losses, the Women’s Soccer team remains positive and feels strong going into the second half of the season. The Gusties currently have a record of 6-4-1, with a Conference record of 2-3.
“We’ve had a couple tough losses, and obviously anyone wishes they could turn those into wins, but I think we’ve learned from them a lot. Hopefully we can plow through these next seven games and still finish in the top four and meet some of our goals in the season,” Junior Chelsea Bayer said.
Beyond just the numbers, the players feel positive about the team dynamics. “Since I’ve been here, it’s definitely been the best season. The team chemistry is good. … There [are] no standout players this year. We’re really cohesive as a team, and I think that is what is working for us,” Junior Meghan Faricy said.
Last weekend on Saturday, Oct. 3 and Sunday, Oct. 4, the Women’s team played games against St. Olaf and UW-Stevens Point. The results were a 3-1 loss and a 0-0 tie, respectively.
“The results don’t quite show it—we had a loss and a tie—but I think it was collectively the best two games [of the season. The last game] went into overtime, so it was 200 minutes of really solid soccer,” Bayer said.
In the game against St. Olaf, the Oles “really capitalized on any little mistake that we made. Obviously we wanted to win, but we were still happy with how we played,” Faricy said.
The team viewed the game against UW-Stevens Point in a much more positive light. “They’re ranked 22nd in the nation, and we tied 0-0 in overtime, so we held our own,” Sophomore Meghan McMillan said.
Even though the results last weekend were not quite what the Gusties wanted, the coaching staff believed the team performed well. “We played very well with some renewed energy and emotion and, except for results, we did everything we wanted to do on the field. [It was] a very positive weekend and sets us up for a good finish to the season,” Head Coach Mike Stehlik said.
This week brings two more games against St. Catherine’s on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 1:00 p.m. and Macalester on Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m.
The players are looking forward to these games. “St. Kate’s on Saturday should be a good game up in the Cities. Our Conference is so close; it really depends on who comes to play on game day. Macalester should be a really fun game.
The atmosphere should be great. It’s going to be at 7:30 [p.m.] … Under the lights, so it’s always a fun game there,” McMillan said.
“Our recipe for success this year is energy, enthusiasm, great communication and working for your teammates for 90 minutes. If we can do that on Saturday, then there is a really good chance that we will get the result we want to get,” Stehlik said.
In the weeks ahead, all but one of the Gusties’ games will be against MIAC teams. For the women, this means they need to continue to do well in order to reach their goal of finishing in the top four of the MIAC.
One of our goals is to be in the top four in the MIAC, which means to go to the playoffs. We’re definitely in the running for that,” Faricy said.
The Gusties will try to make a few adjustments in order to attain this goal. “We need to improve individually in … technical areas, technically under pressure, to make sure when it’s crunch time that people can do things that we need to do for the team to be successful,” Stehlik said.