Coyotes sit in prime position for tournament push

With a 2-0 win on the road against Omaha this past Sunday, the USD women’s soccer team put itself in position to make the four-team Summit League Tournament with three games to go.

The Coyotes play IUPUI at home this Friday, Western Illinois at home on Sunday and travel to Fort Wayne on Nov. 1 to finish out the regular season.

“If we win the next three matches, there will be no issue getting into the tournament,” senior midfielder Danielle Anderson said. “We just need to do the things we set out to do.”

USD currently sits in fifth place in the conference, but control their own destiny and clinch at least the four-seed in the tournament if they win out.

“We need to keep composure and play our game,” senior midfielder Elena Tskakis said. “All the teams we play have beaten us in the past, but we can win if we stay focused.”

All three teams the Coyotes have yet to play are also doing well. But the Coyotes have the easiest remaining schedule as IUPUI, Western Illinois and Fort Wayne still have yet to play North Dakota State and South Dakota State, who are No. 1 and 2 in the Summit League, respectively.

“It’s good to get those games out of the way early,” Tskakis said. “It prepares us well, and we know what we are up against.”

Coach Mandy Green likes the Coyotes’ chances of making the tournament.

“Our chances right now are pretty good. We are playing our best soccer right now,” Green said. “The girls want to make the tournament for the first time ever for the program. They have put in the work and have really been taking care of themselves.”

The road ahead will be tough.

USD has never beaten IUPUI, and all three teams have strong forwards and are fast and athletic teams, Green said.

“It should be evenly matched and whoever plays the best as a team together should win the game,” Green said. “Any team in our conference can beat any other team on any day.”

Sunday’s game against Western Illinois will be Senior Day for the Coyotes, and Green had good things to say about her seniors.

“The class is great and they all worked so hard,” Green said. “They did a great job to bring the team together and set the standards for our program. There is no doubt we are where we are now because of them.”

This past Friday, the Coyotes traveled to Brookings and fell to South Dakota State 2-0. Diana Potterveld and Alyssa Brazil scored for the Jackrabbits as the Coyotes struggled to get anything going on offense, only recording four shots with just one on goal.

“We needed to stay more composed and connect more, but they got up on us and we couldn’t get out of our rut,” Tskakis said.

This past Sunday, USD grabbed a win in Omaha, Neb., defeating Omaha 2-0 thanks to goals from senior forward Brenna Bills and junior forward Corey Strang.

“The SDSU game we did not play our best, but I was happy with how well we rebounded on Sunday,” Green said.

The Coyotes controlled offensive play outshooting Omaha 11-7 and 6-3 for shots on goal.

“We were being the aggressor,” Anderson said. “We were able to possess the ball and finish our chances.”