After a tough 4-0 loss against longtime rival Tampa, the Eckerd Tritons women's soccer team was able to break its losing streak with a vengeance, giving an outstanding performance at home against the Clearwater Christian Cougars on Saturday, October 17 with a 3-0 shutout. Coach Joe McCauley believes that the victory was due in part to the “Kick for the Cure” event the Tritons hosted, gaining money for breast cancer research.
“Incorporating the breast cancer awareness and different things I think helped kind of motivate us to play for reasons other than soccer, something that's a little bit bigger.”
Surely the event turning out a large and supportive crowd had a positive impact on the team's momentum and energy and it was reflected in their performance. The match was a beneficial experience for the Tritons to gain some knowledge and practice in seeing opportunities that are presented to them and advancing on them successfully.
Playing a hard-working opponent like Clearwater Christian according to McCauley, “gave us a little bit more time to kind of explore those options, find those seams, and recognize them, and I think that was a tremendous help.”
A few good examples of this kind of awareness are seen in the three goals that the Tritons scored, where they were able to weave the ball past several defenders and find a player across the field or running forward ready to make the attack to the back of the net. Hopefully this energized momentum will carry over into this week's upcoming games against Flagler College on Tuesday, October 20 at home and at Lynn University on Saturday, October 24.
McCauley believes and hopes that now “knowing we can find those seams, knowing that when we get behind an opponent we can create those opportunities, then the team will realize that if they can do it against a Clearwater Christian team they can continue to do it against other opponents.”
Given that Tuesday's match-up against Flagler is also the team's Senior Night, the event fairs to be advantageous for the Tritons. Any opportunity to appreciate players will build positive energy and momentum.
“I think it's always wonderful to recognize your seniors, the people that have made it through and spent four years of their lives participating in something that they love.”
As far as Saturday goes, Lynn is currently standing just above Eckerd in the Sunshine State Conference rankings, so it proves to be a fairly even competitive match-up for both teams. Hoping to achieve their first conference win of the season, despite it being on the road, McCauley is confident in his team's capabilities.
“I think if we approach it the right way, if we get focused, if we get all 11, 12, 13, 14 players fired up and on the same page then we will be able to do it.”
