Kats host final tune-up on Friday
8/13/2015 5:09:00 PM | Soccer
The Sam Houston State soccer team competes in its final trial run against an opponent on Friday, hosting Texas Southern for a 6:30 p.m. scrimmage at Pritchett Field, as the unit begins to fine-tune for next Friday's opener at Louisiana-Lafayette.
“I think with the group that will start Friday, we expect them to out and compete hard,” eighth-year head coach Tom Brown said. “They've had that extra day of rest so we think they'll be feeling fresh and ready to go. As we get into training today, we'll get into some tactical things we expect them to implement into the game.”
The Bearkats enter arguably their most anticipated season since opening play in 2003, returning 18 players including a Southland Conference-leading six preseason honorees. On Wednesday, the Kats garnered four first-place votes and were picked to finish second by the league's head coaches.
“I think it reinforces what we all spoke about our expectations were this year,” Brown said. “It lets our players know we're not just making up something or telling them they can be good when they can't be. I think they've set a successful foundation coming in during Summer 2 and getting that training together.”
Despite winning four of its final five regular-season matches en route to a program-best 8-2-1 runner-up league finish in 2014, a loss in the conference semifinals to eventual tournament champion Houston Baptist has left the Kats with a chip on their shoulder.
“We unfortunately didn't get a better result in the conference tournament even though we earned the right to have a bye to the semifinals,” Brown said. “I think how we played that day and possibly the opportunity we let slip away has left a sour taste in some players' mouths. They are definitely geared towards making sure we don't make those same mistakes again.”
On Monday, Sam Houston downed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 2-1, in the squad's opening scrimmage behind a 17th-minute penalty-kick goal from junior Allie Johnson and 81st-minute match winner from freshman Micaela Birt.
The Bearkats' 18-match schedule gets underway a week from Friday at Louisiana-Lafayette with kickoff scheduled for 6:00 p.m. As is the case throughout the season, the unit will have a quick turnaround, heading to San Antonio to face UTSA on Sunday at 7 o'clock.
For the latest updates on the Kats, follow @SHSUSoccer on Twitter and visit www.GoBearkats.com.
