In order for a young team to reach its potential along the way, lessons have to be learned in order to grow efficiently.
And while its first two contests of the year have resulted in losses, Natasha Ademinakwa believes that her group can only grow from the results against Carlow (Pa.) and Grace (Ind.) heading into a home matchup against Union (Ky.) on Wednesday evening at 5 p.m. on the Shawnee Turf grounds in Portsmouth.
For Ademinakwa, learning and growing is all that the second-year coach can ask out of her girls.
"We have all been working hard on fixing the mistakes from our previous game," Ademinakwa said. "With our tight loss against Carlow, it has made our girls hungry and driven to work 10 times harder in practices to make sure it doesn't happen again. Myself and the coaches have pressed the team to get better at creating space for each other, being in positions and angles to receive and win the the ball as well as being able to finish in front of the goal."
Against Union, Shawnee State will certainly have to be prepared, especially considering the fact that the Bears go up against a goalkeeper that has already proven to be as stout as can be. Union's Hailee Hawthorne, who posted 62 saves in 85 official shots on goal by her opponents, has already improved drastically as evidenced by her 30 saves in 32 shots on goal. As a result, Hawthorne, who is averaging 15 saves per bout, has increased her save percentage by just under 21 percent -- .729 to .938 -- from her first season in 2018.
To beat Hawthorne, and Union, SSU's offensive consistency will have to win out over the duration of the contest.
"We plan on breaking the Union defense down by not giving them any time on the ball," Ademinakwa said. "Like our last game, we have to all do our part on defensive duties when we have lost the ball, and be able to be an option constantly when we have it. We will have to make our shots count and test the GK early."
Despite the fact that SSU has only scored once in 180 minutes of playing time to this juncture, there is play of offensive promise -- especially in its newcomers. Alli Blank, who has the lone goal, covers a great deal of ground with her long strides and excellent ball control, while Nikki Van Wees has exceptional tools in the game as well. Brenna Woodard's ball control, Lucy Snyder's toughness and grit, and Ellie Aston's relentless hustle, combined with her overall quickness, have allowed the quintet to stand out early on in 2019.
"The girls have stepped up and shown that they are capable of playing at this level," Ademinakwa said. "Whether our girls are 5-10, or 5-0, height has definitely not deterred us from playing. I have been very impressed with them, and others like Brenna and Lucy, who are playing out of position, have shown what they can bring to the table. They all create space and are very tactical."
With their first two games, and weeks, behind them, the hope is that the reps that SSU has been putting in during practice will become the norm during games, which will allow for complete efforts that could result in breakthrough victories such as the one that the Bears are hoping to obtain on Wednesday evening.
"We are a new team," Ademinakwa said. "From game to game, the girls are starting to connect and play well together. If you could see how these girls train and how well they work together, they are really looking exciting and enjoyable to coach and watch. We've either been a second or first half team in both of our games so far. This week, I'm hoping we will be a 90 minute team tomorrow and show our fans and supporters the team we are in practice."
