Sitting at 6-1 to begin their season, the Augustana women’s soccer team is already showing improvement from the 2017 season that saw them start the season 2-3.
With wins over six non-conference teams, the team is already looking to continue their success once CCIW play begins.
After an 8-8-1 finish in 2017, the team set new goals aimed at improving the overall team attitude. Senior captain Andria Serra, who is among team leaders in scoring through seven games, discussed some of the changes made by team members this year and the goals that the team has set for themselves.
“We’re trying to do a lot more cheering on the bench and stuff like that, and trying to stay positive,” Serra said. “One of our goals is to make it into the CCIW tournament this year and hopefully the NCAA tournament.”
For a team that has not made it to the CCIW tournament since 2015 and has hovered around a .500 winning percentage for the past two seasons, changes in attitudes have allowed the team to experience more early-season success than in previous years.
Head coach Scott Mejia explained the impact that the new mindset has had on his players: “We’ve talked a lot about how, in order to have success, we’re going to have to dig down and really battle. In those first two games, we showed a lot of grit, a lot of character, and in some ways just outworked our opponent.”
The team suffered their first loss of the season to Coe College on Sept. 11, and the girls see the loss as a prime opportunity to develop the team’s grit. Sophomore Grace Sigler explained how the team is using the game to build character.
“That [loss] was a kind of reality check, and now we have to build from that and realize that we have to put in the work for this season to go how it was starting,” Sigler said. “We saw that we can score goals. We saw that we can win games against hard teams and good teams. But now it comes down to ‘we have that potential, but can we live up to it?’”
The team responded in a strong way following the loss, defeating Lawrence University 8-0 on Friday, Sept. 14. 15 different team members contributed to the score with either a goal or an assist, and the Vikings outshot their opponents 41-1.
The team will begin CCIW play against North Park University on Saturday, Sept. 22 at 1 p.m. on Thorson-Lucken Field.
Photo above: Jenna Dvorak (Soph, #13) kicks the ball away from the Coe College opponents Carlin Morsch (Fr, #12) and Teresa Knudson (Soph, #13). Photo by Ian Murrin.