Photo by: AJ Henderson / Georgia Southern
SPRING RECAP: Women's Soccer Tests Itself Among Nation's Best To Prepare For The Fall
4/17/2024 1:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer
Eagles face off against three NCAA teams, including national champion Florida State, during Spring slate
STATESBORO - Georgia Southern head women's soccer coach Chris Adams embraced the opportunity this Spring to put his Eagle squad up against some of the nation's best programs in an effort to prepare the team for the upcoming 2024 schedule.
The Eagles began the Spring with a home 4-1 win over Charleston Southern, then played three straight road matches against squads who experienced success in the 2023 NCAA Women's Soccer Championships. Georgia Southern faced off against NCAA champion Florida State (L 4-0), NCAA Final Four participant Clemson (L 2-0) and NCAA Round of 32 participant South Carolina (L 2-1) all away from home and even though the Eagles did not get the results they wanted, the level of competition showed how much the program has progressed in his three seasons in Statesboro.
"We wanted to stretch ourselves this Spring," Coach Adams said. "And we more than did that. This next step for us as a program, if we're going to use the RPI as a measuring stick, is a big step. We could either take baby steps to get there, or we could start at the top and see what it looks like there. We can see just how far off we are from those top level teams we are. Playing the national champ in Florida State, a Final Four team in Clemson and a Round of 32 team in South Carolina - we got exactly what we wanted from that. I think the biggest risk we took was a controllable - it was our confidence. We talked about before that in those run of games, we didn't allow it to rob us of confidence. It was going to be a big challenge and we knew that going in. Credit to the players for not allowing it to rob them of confidence, playing such a difficult spring schedule. It's one of those things where it may not pay dividends until the Fall, but it will definitely pay dividends."
One of the biggest tasks for Coach Adams and the Eagles this Spring was to find out who would step up to replace a pair of central defenders who were arguably the best duo in the Sun Belt over the last three seasons in Sade Heinrichs and Megan Przybysz. And Coach Adams was impressed with the growth shown by sophomores Kendall Wilson and Erin Wilkins in that role.
"Looking at the center back position, you've got Kendall, who has not played there in the past," Coach Adams said. "And I thought she was very good this Spring at 1v1 defending. Erin was formerly a center back, so it was just a matter of converting her back to that position. After the Clemson game, that was the first game that those two played together, and they learned quickly while adapting to that position. It's big shoes to fill when you look at Sade, who was the Defensive Player of the Year in the conference and Megan, who played for six years for us. But I thought those two did a good job of filling that gap and they continued to grow as the Spring went on. They had the biggest growth for us this Spring, but it was the biggest ask as well."
Before the Eagles kick off the Fall campaign in August, there's still a lot of work to be put in for the team, both on and off the field.
"It's just a lot of details now," Coach Adams said. "From a team standpoint, they'll carry on with weights and conditioning, just so they do not completely shut down. But we also like them to focus on their academics in the last three weeks of the semester and finish strong in the classroom. That's next on the immediate front. Then they'll take a little break, to mentally reset. Our freshman arrive on June 14 and start summer classes on June 17, and that'll be here before we know it. Our returners will then start trickling in afterwards. Staff wise, we'll focus on the details of the Fall, travel arrangement and make sure it's a smooth incoming transition for the freshman. We'll have some staffing changes as well. I'm very appreciative of Matt Sharman and his efforts over the last three years, he's going to be greatly missed by myself and the players. We'll have a new goalkeepers coach for the Fall and we're also looking to add an operations position."
Taking a brief look ahead at the Fall roster, one thing that stands out is that the Eagles will be a team featuring only one fourth-year senior in Smith Cathey and one fifth-year senior in Maya Zovko who have played their entire careers with the Eagles. The bulk of the roster will be young, and with that comes its own sets of challenges.
"We are going to be young," Coach Adams said. "But I think we're going to be extremely talented. So I'm excited to watch our team and how quickly they can blossom. There's always a little uncertainty with a youthful squad, but it doesn't mean that you can't be successful. With some of the turnover in the conference, the opportunity is there to climb the ladder. Being able to compete against those high level teams, our goal should be to take that next step, which is playing our way into the NCAA tournament."
The Eagles began the Spring with a home 4-1 win over Charleston Southern, then played three straight road matches against squads who experienced success in the 2023 NCAA Women's Soccer Championships. Georgia Southern faced off against NCAA champion Florida State (L 4-0), NCAA Final Four participant Clemson (L 2-0) and NCAA Round of 32 participant South Carolina (L 2-1) all away from home and even though the Eagles did not get the results they wanted, the level of competition showed how much the program has progressed in his three seasons in Statesboro.
"We wanted to stretch ourselves this Spring," Coach Adams said. "And we more than did that. This next step for us as a program, if we're going to use the RPI as a measuring stick, is a big step. We could either take baby steps to get there, or we could start at the top and see what it looks like there. We can see just how far off we are from those top level teams we are. Playing the national champ in Florida State, a Final Four team in Clemson and a Round of 32 team in South Carolina - we got exactly what we wanted from that. I think the biggest risk we took was a controllable - it was our confidence. We talked about before that in those run of games, we didn't allow it to rob us of confidence. It was going to be a big challenge and we knew that going in. Credit to the players for not allowing it to rob them of confidence, playing such a difficult spring schedule. It's one of those things where it may not pay dividends until the Fall, but it will definitely pay dividends."
One of the biggest tasks for Coach Adams and the Eagles this Spring was to find out who would step up to replace a pair of central defenders who were arguably the best duo in the Sun Belt over the last three seasons in Sade Heinrichs and Megan Przybysz. And Coach Adams was impressed with the growth shown by sophomores Kendall Wilson and Erin Wilkins in that role.
"Looking at the center back position, you've got Kendall, who has not played there in the past," Coach Adams said. "And I thought she was very good this Spring at 1v1 defending. Erin was formerly a center back, so it was just a matter of converting her back to that position. After the Clemson game, that was the first game that those two played together, and they learned quickly while adapting to that position. It's big shoes to fill when you look at Sade, who was the Defensive Player of the Year in the conference and Megan, who played for six years for us. But I thought those two did a good job of filling that gap and they continued to grow as the Spring went on. They had the biggest growth for us this Spring, but it was the biggest ask as well."
Before the Eagles kick off the Fall campaign in August, there's still a lot of work to be put in for the team, both on and off the field.
"It's just a lot of details now," Coach Adams said. "From a team standpoint, they'll carry on with weights and conditioning, just so they do not completely shut down. But we also like them to focus on their academics in the last three weeks of the semester and finish strong in the classroom. That's next on the immediate front. Then they'll take a little break, to mentally reset. Our freshman arrive on June 14 and start summer classes on June 17, and that'll be here before we know it. Our returners will then start trickling in afterwards. Staff wise, we'll focus on the details of the Fall, travel arrangement and make sure it's a smooth incoming transition for the freshman. We'll have some staffing changes as well. I'm very appreciative of Matt Sharman and his efforts over the last three years, he's going to be greatly missed by myself and the players. We'll have a new goalkeepers coach for the Fall and we're also looking to add an operations position."
Taking a brief look ahead at the Fall roster, one thing that stands out is that the Eagles will be a team featuring only one fourth-year senior in Smith Cathey and one fifth-year senior in Maya Zovko who have played their entire careers with the Eagles. The bulk of the roster will be young, and with that comes its own sets of challenges.
"We are going to be young," Coach Adams said. "But I think we're going to be extremely talented. So I'm excited to watch our team and how quickly they can blossom. There's always a little uncertainty with a youthful squad, but it doesn't mean that you can't be successful. With some of the turnover in the conference, the opportunity is there to climb the ladder. Being able to compete against those high level teams, our goal should be to take that next step, which is playing our way into the NCAA tournament."
Players Mentioned
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