As with any program, competition tends to heat up as individual seasons progress.
For the Shawnee State men's and women's soccer programs, that fact is definitely the case as both units will be busy over the next week with the men playing four contests over an eight-day stretch and the women taking on Ohio Christian and Point Park over the next four days in a busy week on the pitch for both SSU soccer squads.
However, the competition is necessary if Shawnee State hopes to make upward progression within the Mid-South Conference standings. And that's a fact that both
Natasha Ademakinwa and
Ron Goodson believe to be true, as well.
"I view our competition as preparation for our conference games," Ademakinwa said. "All the teams we play have competed with teams in our conference. This will be a good test for us to see if we are ready."
"I obviously want to win these next four games, but more importantly we need to fix a few things with some mistakes we are making," Goodson said. "Hopefully, after these next eight days, we will be ready to move into conference play and will be playing our best."
The Shawnee State women's soccer program looks well on its way to be doing just that as the women, after dropping their first two contests of the season, have picked it up over the past two weeks with victories over Union (Ky.) and West Virginia Tech in 2-1 victories in both affairs. The Bears, who got goals from Nikki Van Wees and
Eilidh Mchattie in the former victory and blasts from
Alex Raudier and
Brenna Woodard in the latter, have featured a balanced offense where all five of its goals scored on the year have come from different players. Van Wees,
Alli Blank, and
Ellie Aston have supplied the three assists that the unit has garnered in 2019.
In addition to their improvement offensively, SSU received a strong performance from
Hannah Bolender in goal against the Golden Bears. Bolender, who made the first start of her career in goal in the Bears' 2-1 double-overtime victory against West Virginia Tech, saved eight of the nine shots that she saw in the contest. The freshman from Brown County, Ohio has saved 13 of the 14 shots that she's seen so far on the year.
"I can't tell you how proud I am of my girls and the way how they fought and battled from start to finish (against West Virginia Tech)," Ademakinwa said. "I believe we got the win from the efforts of all of our players. Whether they got 10 or 60-plus minutes, they helped contribute to our win. Both goals that we scored were team goals as well, which was something I was proud to witness. It's nice to also have other players in positions getting on the goal sheet too."
With Ohio Christian and Point Park coming up over the next four days, it will be paramount for Bolender and the SSU defense to mark up and be aware of the situations that present themselves on the pitch. Brooke Lezotte, a senior forward, has scored four goals for the 1-2 Trailblazers, while the Pioneers, despite being 1-4 on the year, feature a balanced offense that has posted five goals and four assists in five contests. 2-3 Brescia (Ky.), who features senior midfielder Sierre Tomblin and senior forward Kassi Gilbert, have collected two goals apiece during the 2019 season.
"I hope that with our next three upcoming away games, we can get nine points from them," Ademakinwa said. "It will be a test for us to see how we will perform. We have had an advantage playing our last games at home. It's all about us showing up and playing our brand of soccer. If we play our Shawnee way we will get the wins in our upcoming games. It's just up to our girls if they show up and play the Shawnee way!"
As for the men, a litany of challenges lie ahead with their competition, which includes Gerritt Brinkman and Tim Kasparek, who have combined for 10 goals and an assist in five games for 4-1 MVNU, Darius Passley-Bennett and Farouk Amoo, who have scored three goals apiece for 2-3 Lourdes, Noah Welch and Owyn Howard, who have combined for five goals and an assist in five games for 1-4 Asbury, and Andrew Norman and Anthony Leo, who have combined for eight goals and two assists for 2-3 Cincinnati Christian.
However, against West Virginia Tech, who is receiving 30 votes as of the latest NAIA Poll, Shawnee State showed the offensive firepower, even in its 3-0 setback, that has Goodson and Co. hopeful for further progression. That can certainly be found with the type of talent that SSU has, especially with
Kevin de Lange (six goals, three assists),
Bruno Rovares (three goals, two assists),
Joao Toledo (two goals, three assists),
Thomas de Graauw (three goals), and
Mitchell Patchett (three goals, assist) among other talented hands on the roster.
"I thought we played really well Wednesday against West Virginia Tech, who is a very good team," Goodson said. "They came in receiving votes in the latest poll, and were very solid. It was a good game to see where we stand against one of the top teams in the country. We are getting close to where we need to be. We hung with them on shots, they just had a few find the net."
And like the Shawnee State women, the men simply want to make the necessary progressions in order to prove that they are ready to take the fight to their counterparts.
"We are disappointed to be 3-3," Goodson said. "I feel like we should be 5-1, but our guys are improving each game, and that is what we want to see happening. It will be a tough stretch ahead with four games in the next eight days, but I believe we are up to that challenge."
