After a week where both soccer programs went 4-0 against their competition, the Shawnee State men's and women's soccer programs will look to continue their upward mobility in a big way as the Bears will face off against the West Virginia Tech men's and women's soccer programs in a doubleheader that will be held at Shawnee Turf in Portsmouth.
Shawnee State, who sits with a combined 4-4 overall record between its two soccer programs, will look to move to 2-2 on the season against the West Virginia Tech women's soccer program and 4-2 against the men's soccer program, respectively.
The women, who scored an impressive 2-1 victory over a Union (Ky.) team that defeated Georgetown (Ky.) by a 3-0 count earlier in the season, have an excellent opportunity to strike gold against a West Virginia Tech squad that has been outscored by a 6-0 margin in its two losses to Grace (Ind.) and Campbellsville. West Virginia Tech lost 4-0 to the Lancers on Aug. 26 while the Golden Bears fell to the Tigers on Sept. 7 by a 2-0 margin.
Overall, Nikki Van Wees, Eilidh Mchattie, and Alli Blank -- three incoming freshman to Natasha Ademakinwa's roster in 2019 -- have been Shawnee State's leading producers on the field from an offensive standpoint. Van Wees collected her first career assist to Blank -- who scored her first career goal in SSU's 6-1 loss to Grace on Aug. 24 -- while Van Wees scored her first career goal in the 2-1 victory over Union on Sept. 4 off of a Blank pass. Mchattie added in her own blast against Union en route to Shawnee State's first victory of the year.
"Getting our first win in the season last week was a great team effort from all our girls," Ademakinwa said. "Myself and the coaches were proud of the girls' performance. They have worked so hard since the preseason. I felt it was great being able to see the girls play how they train, as well."
As far as the men are concerned, the Bears have been led by a balanced scoring attack that has truly proven to be a second half team. In fact, Shawnee State has scored each of its 19 goals in the second half of all five of its contests to start the season, including this past week, where SSU outscored Ohio Christian, Midway, and Bluffton by a massive 17-0 count.
In all, four players have scored at least three or more goals, with Kevin de Lange's six blasts and three goals apiece from Thomas de Graauw, Bruno Rovares, and Mitchell Patchett leading the unit. de Lange, along with Joao Toledo, lead SSU with three assists while Rovares and Jacob Perry have a pair of assists on their own accord in 2019.
"So far, we have been very balanced on offense," SSU men's soccer head coach Ron Goodson said. "That is great to have several guys who are able to step up and score goals or provide assists. It also makes it harder for opposing teams to shut down."
And with the opportunity to make a statement against a West Virginia Tech unit that is receiving votes, there's no better time to return to the Shawnee Turf than right now -- in order for the men, and women, to garner crucial momentum.
"It is great to be back at home playing on Shawnee Turf," Goodson said. "We have played four out of our five games on the road, so it will be nice to get to play in front of our fans, although we have had a very good turnout of fans for our road games, which is great."
"I think it's great that we have a doubleheader," Ademakinwa said. "Both teams can finally support one another and both are more likely to get bigger crowds for both our games."
In addition to the men's and women's soccer programs, the Shawnee State cross country squads will be back in action on Friday at the Michigan State Spartan Invitational in East Lansing, Mich. on Friday. The men, who won the Mid-South Conference Previews with 23 points to their name, will look to have Hunter Hoover, the MSC Runner of the Week, and Seth Farmer, among others, lead the charge again after placing five runners in the top-seven overall at the MSC Previews and nine runners in the top-20 overall. The women, meanwhile, will look to move up the leaderboard after placing third out of seven teams behind strong running efforts from Marissa Smith and Jessica Price last Saturday.
The men's and women's tennis teams also start their season this weekend on the road against Heidelberg University and Indiana Tech as both programs will attempt to make progress in Steve Boone's fourth season as a head coach for both programs. Boone will have 19 student-athletes on the men's and women's side of the spectrum suiting up for him this season.
For more information on SSU Bears Athletics, visit www.ssubears.com.
