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The Mississippi State women’s soccer team has completed its preseason practices and scrimmages, and is extremely excited about the upcoming regular season.
The Bulldogs will travel to Memphis to face a tough Tiger team in the opening game of the regular season tonight at 7 p.m.
“Memphis is a very good team with many international players who have a lot of experience,” said head coach Neil McGuire. “I think we are ready physically and emotionally, but the question will be if we are ready tactically.”
Expectations are exceptionally high as this year’s team is arguably the most talented in team history. The Bulldogs will return nine starters from a year ago, along with 11 incoming freshman who should provide immediate impact.
Freshman midfielder Heidi Ondra, along with freshman goalkeepers Luisa Marzotto and Jill Breland will all be expected to contribute.
The Bulldogs will look to improve on last year’s overall record of 6-13-1, and conference record of 2-6-1 that resulted in a last place finish in the western conference.
Defense is where MSU looks to be the strongest this year. A combination of immense talent and excellent speed should propel the Bulldogs into one of the premier defensive units in the conference.
Junior Morgan McDonald, center in the flat four defensive scheme, should play a significant role in the success of the defense this year.
“If we play good defense like we are capable of doing, we can reach our goal of winning the west and receiving an NCAA bid,” McDonald said.
Most of the questions about the success of this year’s team come from the offensive side of the field. MSU ranked 9th last year in total goals and in goals per match.
Amy Van Zandt, MSU’s leading goal scorer from a year ago, transferred to TCU and will no longer be playing soccer in maroon and white.
Sophomore Betty Ann Casey and Junior Ngum Suh will be called upon to replace Van Zandt’s scoring ability and carry the offensive load.
“As long as we play hard and up to our potential, we are definitely going to beat up on other teams,” said Suh.
As much as hard work and good play on the field will dictate how well this team will perform, team chemistry may be the deciding factor.
According to coach Maguire, the lack of team chemistry was one of the major reasons for the underachievement of last year’s team.
“Team chemistry is a big key to our success. It was something we didn’t have much of last year,” said Maguire. “This year our team chemistry, work ethic, and discipline is where it needs to be, and we are all very excited about beginning this season.”