The Lady Bulldogs soccer team has played their last three games on the road, winning their first game against Harding University, then losing to Carson-Newman University and McKendree University. Last Friday, they faced Christian Brothers University in their first home and conference match.
I talked with senior sport management major Kirsten LaValee, keeper for Lady Bulldogs, before the game. She was confident in her teammates even after two losses on the road.
“I think we’re looking really good,” LaValee said. “I think we’re all ready to start off on the right foot. Christian Brothers has always been a close game for us, but I think this year, we should be able to put it away. I think today we’re going to start out in a 4-3-3 [formation] and have movement from the outside backs and get them going forward, probably looking at Tessa [Erzen], Rivers [Abshere], or we have a D1 transfer, Alyssa [Goodloe]. Those will probably be our main people to fill in those outside positions.”
The team did exactly what LaValee said. They utilized their formation, moving the ball up the field, going outside and inside until an opening was worth taking. After 19 minutes, Madison Woolridge put one away to take the lead. Union finished the first half 1-0 with seven shots to CBU’s three. Seven minutes into the second half, the Lady Bulldogs used the same method and Claire Maxon and Rebekah Jackson scored twice in less than a minute making it a 3-0 match, remaining that way until the final whistle.
After the match, I asked Head Coach Josh Alford how the team is feeling after winning their first conference match 3-0, a great start to their season as the rest of the matches will be conference matches.
“Having this victory makes people respect us a little bit more,” Alford said. “We’re going through this transition right now where people start to respect us, but yes, confidence is huge moving forward to the rest of the conference. We have a great senior group with leadership and they’ve been here and done that. So no matter if you get a big squad or even transfers, you just haven’t been in this conference so they don’t quite know until they’ve seen it. We always want them to imprint a little bit in the next generation and I think so far, every senior class that we’ve had here has done a good job of imprinting.”
I think the Lady Bulldogs are shaping up to have an entertaining season. They have confidence going into their next game on the road against Mississippi College. With eight freshmen being welcomed onto the team, there is a lot to learn, but the team is relying on each other and their leadership to help as the season progresses.