First-year soccer players making a statement for program
Some first-year college athletes may not make it onto the field for game day, but that’s not the case for the University of South Dakota’s soccer team.
First-year players make up about a third of the 30-person squad, and they are not warming seats on the bench. Instead, head coach Mandy Green said first-years are creating a more competitive environment on the team to earn playing time.
“They came in and made our upperclassmen step up their game,” Green said. “They’re competing. They want to play. And they’ve raised the level of talent in our program.”
There are only three sophomores on the 2014 roster, so the number of first-years is not an unusual addition. Green said the team will include another 12 incoming students next season.
“Every year our returning players are getting better and our freshman class is better than the year before,” she said. “It’s getting tougher and tougher to get people playing time, but it’s getting better every year.”
First-year Brittany Baker said the pressure to perform well her first season only increased with Sunday’s match against an undefeated Creighton squad. USD (4-4-0) lost the game 3-1 but outshot the Bluejays — a first for the team.
Baker played 34 minutes on Sunday. She said everyone on the field is earning their playing time for USD, no matter their age or experience.
Lara Boman, another first-year, agrees with Baker that her teammates treat each other as equals on the field. Off the field, Boman said USD’s upperclassmen make an effort to get to know each first-year individually and guide them through obstacles as a student and an athlete.
“They don’t baby us, though,” Boman said. “It makes it so that off the field we get along, so on the field we are fighting for each other.”
A large senior class has set the tone for the first-years, said senior Lauren Bennett. Bennett said even though USD lost to Creighton, the second half of the match featured a USD team with a bright future.
“We are trying to show the freshmen what we expect and where we are headed,” she said. “That came through against a team we struggle to compete with.”
The Coyotes will compete against the University of North Dakota Friday at 3 p.m. in Vermillion.
(University of South Dakota first year defender Katlin Ptacek races a Wyoming player to the ball during a Coyote home game Sept. 12. Anna Glenski|The Volante)
