Soccer in action this weekend
8/28/2014 4:46:00 PM | Soccer
The Sam Houston soccer team will head to College Station to play Illinois State Friday at 4 p.m. as the Bearkats search for their first win of the season. The Kats are then back at Pritchett Field to host Prairie View A&M Sunday at 6:30 p.m.
Sam Houston has started the season 0-2 with narrow losses to Louisiana-Lafayette, 1-0, and to UTSA, 2-1. Head coach Tom Brown still sees a lot of positives in the way the Kats are playing.
“I think we're playing well and I think we have done a good job of possessing the ball and knocking it around,” Brown said. “This is definitely the best technical team we've had in my time here. I think we're creating some good chances, even though we haven't been able to finish those chances. I'd be a lot more concerned if we couldn't figure out how to get into the final third and create those chances.”
Illinois State started the season with wins over Northern Illinois, 4-1, and Central Michigan, 5-1. The Redbirds made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season after beating Louisville in the first round.
“We're definitely looking forward to playing Illinois State. The last several years they've been to where we want to get to. I think it's a positive for us to have more opportunities have to play teams like them. We'll be excited about our opportunity Friday,” said Brown.
Prairie View was narrowly defeated by McNeese on the road, 1-0, in the Panthers' opener. PVAMU is led by the SWAC preseason Defensive Player of the Year, Debbie Arguelles. The Panthers will play St. Thomas in Houston Friday night before taking on the Kats
“The kids will be excited to be back at home and are excited to start a new winning streak back at Pritchett Field. Prairie View has gotten better every year under Coach Abe Garcia. They'll are a tough team at the top of the SWAC and they're trying to find ways to get better and get into the tournament as well,” said Brown.
The Kats will finish off non-conference play with Texas Tech, Utah State and TCU in the coming weeks.
