Sports
The Pointers practice following their successful tournament run.
Women’s Soccer Sets the Weekend on Fire
The Pointer
Hshee298@uwsp.edu
After a blazing season last fall, consisting of 18 wins and only four losses, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point women’s soccer team is gearing up to defend their title in 2009. The title of Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Champions left the team last year with both joy and sadness. The title validating their strenuous training also meant an end to 10 talented senior players’ careers and a new beginning for a young team.
Head women’s soccer coach and UWSP professor Sheila Miech, however, has no hesitation in considering a young team an advantage. Through tryouts and now practices, she has made note of how players compete to fill the shoes of the departed 10. Miech describes her team as a “hungry, talented group waiting for their turn to play.”
And play they have, packing all the intensity of last year right back into their practices and games. After losing to Wheaton in their first game of the season 3-0, the team stepped up significantly at the Luther Labor Day Classic last weekend. They won against both Luther and Nebraska Wesleyan, 3-0. A rebound from injury put key player Jackie Spees, senior, back on the field during the weekend classic. Her fiery return was not welcomed by the opponent’s net, as she scored two goals in the first game and one, with an assist, in the second. Junior Vicki Bieschke scored goal three against Luther. Freshman Kristi Nickels and Junior Brittany Boyer scored the remaining goals against Wesleyan.
These blowout games were enough to convince Miech that the competition level among the team in practice was beginning to rear its head in games. This is good news for the team, especially when examining the upcoming games scheduled against tough teams in the WIAC Conference. This Saturday they will go head-to-head with UW-River Falls in their first conference matchup of the season.
A consistent dose of off-season training, incorporating conditioning and cardio work, along with two wins has given the Pointer women’s soccer team high hopes for this season. Only time will tell if these hopes will manifest themselves into another golden season for the purple and gold.
