When the famed crossover season takes place, it's always known that the time, for most sports on campus, is a hectic one.
That's no different for several of the soccer programs at Shawnee State, as the men's and women's soccer programs at the university, along with the cross country, bowling, and eSports programs, will all be participating in contests over the weekend in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States on Saturday.
Soccer
For Ron Goodson and Natasha Ademakinwa, the opportunity to collect victories against a Mid-South Conference foe, especially with the regular season entering its final days, is vital in more ways than one.
"We have had a good week to prepare," Goodson said. "The guys know the importance of this game and how important it is to head into tournament play on a positive note playing at our best."
"The goal is for us to finish off our season strong," Ademakinwa said. "We will have to play our Shawnee way consistently for the full 90 minutes. In order for us to get wins, we will have to first do our defensive duties, take our chances, and make use of the opportunities given to us."
For both soccer programs, they'll have to stop two of the Mid-South Conference's best offensive talents in Eric Bernabeu and Emily Branham. Bernabeu has posted nine goals and an assist in 2019 while Branham has 11 goals and an assist for Pikeville's women -- which means that both Shawnee State defensive units will have to mark up and account for the duo at all times. The men will also have the challenge of trying to get past Anibal Navarro, who has proven to be an exceptional goalkeeper as evidenced by his 80 saves and 80.8 save percentage in 12 games and starts in 2019.
"Pikeville has been a pretty even matchup with us over the last few years," Goodson said. "They always play hard and have some talented players. Navarro is one of the best goalkeepers in the league."
"We will mark and do everything we can to keep them both (Branham and Pikeville's Mya Holmes) out of the game," Ademanakiwa said. "We will again have to do our defensive duties as a team as well as attack as a team."
Despite their youth, the Shawnee State women have shown flashes of brillance. During last Wednesday's match against Georgetown, Hannah Bolender stopped 13 shots and held the Tigers -- who have one of the better offenses in the Mid-South -- scoreless for 62 minutes.
As for the men, the talent is there -- it's just a matter of connecting the dots. Kevin de Lange (14 goals, nine assists) and Joao Toledo (four goals, six assists) have continued to serve as consistent offensive threats, as has Mitchell Patchett and Bruno Rovares, who have obtained four goals and two assists between them in 2019. Kade Tomlinson came back to start against Thomas More after missing time due to injury, and made three saves in the Bears' 1-1 tie against the Saints.
"We have had to adjust to playing without a few key players in Mark (de Graaf) and Jacob (Perry)," Goodson said. "We are getting chances to score, we just have to create better opportunities and take advantage when we get those opportunities."
After all, taking advantage of the opportunities that are presented or off of mistakes that are made is how soccer games are won and lost.
"We have to continue to play to our strengths and cut down on mistakes and turnovers," Goodson said of his unit. "It will take a great team effort to win Saturday and I believe the team is up to that challenge."
"Game by game, we have improved as a team," Ademakinwa said. "It comes down to confidence and playing with heart for the full 90 minutes. It also comes down individually to my players trusting themselves in their own abilities."
Additional action
In addition to the soccer programs competing on Saturday, the men's and women's cross country units at Shawnee State will be racing on Saturday at the Great Lakes Challenge in Grand Rapids, Mich. There, Seth Farmer will be looking for his second consecutive race victory on the men's side of the spectrum -- along with his fourth Mid-South Conference Runner of the Week accolade -- while Brooke Smith will be looking to obtain her third MSC Runner of the Week honor in 2019 alone.
Throughout the weekend, the eSports' Rocket League, League of Legends, and Hearthstone teams will also be in action inside the Area Technology Center building on campus -- where folks can come and watch their favorite gamers in action -- while the men's and women's bowling teams will be participating in the Mid-South Conference's Baker Classic in Smyrna, Tenn. on Saturday and Sunday.
For information and recaps on all of the aforementioned events, visit www.ssubears.com or visit the Twitter and Facebook pages at https://twitter.com/SSUBears and https://www.facebook.com/SSUBears.
