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Challenge ahead for soccer team
UA women's soccer will try to achieve its original goal of not losing more than two games during its six-game road trip when it heads to Harrisonburg, Va., this weekend. "We're not too far off our original target of allowing only two losses while on the road," assistant coach Jen Netherwood said. "We were disappointed to come back with a loss and tie last weekend, but no doubt we'll step up our game this weekend and go out there physically and mentally focused." The Wildcats will begin the James Madison Tournament this afternoon at 4 p.m. when they face Kansas. "Kansas is a young program like we are, and George Washington and James Madison are both well-established programs, so the competition this weekend is going to be good," assistant coach Bruce Caris said. The winner of tonight's game will advance to the championship game Sunday afternoon, playing the winner of the GWU-JMU game. The Wildcats are coming off a tough weekend in Albuquerque, having fallen to South Alabama 3-2 and tying New Mexico 1-1. Their record now stands at 1-2-1. "Losing has opened our eyes," sophomore midfielder Kendra Gefvert said. "We're figuring out what we're not doing, so now we can start doing that. It's upsetting to lose, but we're staying focused." "We have the ability to put the losses behind us and focus on the games ahead of us," defender Kate Nighswander-Will said. The first focal point ahead of the Wildcats are the Jayhawks (2-3). "The tournament is going to be very challenging. All three teams that we could face are good teams, better than any we've faced before this season," Netherwood said. The Wildcats prepared for this weekend at practice with a week of stepping up their game, keeping better ball possession and working on their finishing. Those are three problems they've struggled with thus far in the season, head coach Lisa Fraser said. "We're going to come out playing the first 30 seconds of the game and continue that level of play throughout the remaining time," Gefvert said. "We're not just going to be in the game for the last 10 minutes because we'll be focused on winning the entire game." Kate Longworth can be reached via e-mail at Kate.Longworth@wildcat.arizona.edu.
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