In any sport inside the Mid-South Conference, a team has to bring its 'A' game every time out, or risk getting left in the dust in the race for conference supremacy.

While that point is certainly as true in the Mid-South as it is in any other conference in the NAIA realm, it's also true that the soccer programs at Shawnee State are up for the task. Both the men's and women's soccer programs will have an opportunity to make gains as the soccer season hits its homestretch with contests against Georgetown and Thomas More over the coming week.

For men's soccer head coach Ron Goodson and women's soccer head coach Natasha Ademakinwa, the contests represent an opportunity to show to the conference the skill that both teams have on their respective rosters.

"My coaching staff, myself, and the girls have all worked extremely hard and effectively to prepare for today and the rest of our conference games," Ademakinwa said. "We have done this by getting better and more cohesive as a unit defensively and offensively. We have worked on our weaknesses and have been exploiting our strengths. To shut Georgetown out, it will take discipline, organization, and talking on the field from 11 of the players on the field."

"It will take a total team effort against Georgetown," Goodson said. "We need to control possession in the middle, play good defense, and score when we get opportunities. I look for it to be another tight game. Anytime you play a conference game, the stakes are higher, and this year, the conference has been strong. We just need to play well and play like we are capable of playing."

Men's Soccer

Against Georgetown and Thomas More, the Shawnee State men's soccer program will be looking to halt two powerful offenses. Georgetown, who leads the NAIA in total goals (81) and assists (56), has five players who have scored 20 points or more this season, including Luca Zellman (21 goals, five assists), Sebastian Bocaz-Canales (16 goals, 11 assists), Noel Roman (12 goals, eight assists), Logan Sparks (nine goals, five assists) and Jake McKettrick (eight goals, four assists), while Thomas More's Ethan Smith (10 goals) has also proven to be a legitimate threat.

So for the next two games at least, it is clear that SSU will have to bring its best effort to the table on the backline.

"We will have to be at our best on defense," Goodson said. "Georgetown has been very good offensively this year, and have three players with double-digit goals. Thomas More beat Freed-Hardeman and Asbury this season and have played in four other games that have been decided by two goals or less, so they are an opponent that we can't take lightly, either, as we can't for all of our foes in the Mid-South. It is imperative that we be ready to play from the opening whistle."

Shawnee State's strong defensive effort has been aided by outstanding play from Corbin Betz, who has played exceptionally well since stepping in for Kade Tomlinson due to injury to the latter. Betz, who is 5-2 in his seven decisions in goal, has posted three shutouts and has saved 41 of the 52 shots that he's seen on the year en route to a strong 1.57 goals-against-average in 2019.

"Corbin has been great for us in goal since stepping in for Kade," Goodson said. "The defense has also stepped up. They are gaining experience playing together and making fewer mistakes. They were really good against Cumberland (Tenn.), and will have to play that well each game going forward."

The return of two key hands who had previously missed part of, or all of, game action in prior games against Cumberland also proved to be huge for the SSU men. Bruno Rovares, one of those stout talents, was critical as his 42nd minute goal off of a Jacob Perry throw-in propelled the Bears to a 1-0 victory over the Phoenix last Saturday.

"It is always good to get key players back on the field," Goodson said. "It was good to see Bruno get to play and to get the goal. He was questionable coming in to that game and he really stepped up and played well."

Women's Soccer

On the women's side of the spectrum, Shawnee State will need a balanced attack to break down the Georgetown and Thomas More defenses. Eilidh Mchattie has posted five goals and an assist, but the Bears, as a team, have made just 16 of their 136 shots despite putting 83 of those 136 blasts on frame.

Those numbers will have to see an uptick as Shawnee State plays a Georgetown offense that has at least four players (Genarose Jones, Wheelersburg native Libby Miller, Maggie Vanluit and Madie Sparks) scoring at least five or more goals, along with a Thomas More attack that has received five goals from Olivia Nienaber, four goals from Abby Hutcheson, and three goals apiece from Emily Morieira and Kaylee Terrell.

However, both units, in all, are a combined 13-14. And with players like Mchattie, Ellie Aston, Paige Alford, Clarissa Mckinney, Olivia Ball, Jill Kelly, Destiny Chester, Alli Blank, Cassidy Asbury, Brenna Woodard, and Nikki Van Wees along its offensive and defensive lines, Shawnee State has the capability of grabbing a pair of victories.

"We will have 11 players step up on Wednesday and Saturday," Ademakinwa said. "We will plan to attack and continue to play our "Shawnee way." The girls know what they need to do and can do it all. It just will come down to belief, self-confidence, trust with one another and playing with heart for the full 90 minutes. I'm confident that we have learned from our previous games and the chances that we didn't take. This has been expected from a new young group of girls. However, the team and girls are shaping up every week and are getting stronger and better."

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