Kats close preseason with 1-0 victory
8/14/2015 11:06:00 PM | Soccer
Sam Houston State soccer survived a late scare from Texas Southern and utilized a 36th-minute goal from freshman Lindsey Bienski to claim its final preseason scrimmage, 1-0, at Pritchett Field on Friday evening.
“I thought Texas Southern played really hard,” eighth-year head coach Tom Brown said. “They stuck in it until the very end and created some issues for us. I think the game showed us some things we need to work on over the next week. We'll use it positively as we get ready for Louisiana-Lafayette next week.”
Despite difficulty defensively for the Kats over the last few minutes, the Lady Tigers lined a shot off the left post and came up short again when Sam Houston senior goalkeeper Magen Ross challenged and deflected a primed shot to maintain the shutout.
“I just chose to come out on her and not give her the shot,” Ross said. “It's always tough when the ball is bouncing and our defenders are running back at me and they have players on their back. I think on my part, I just decided to go the aggressive route and try to get the ball and give them as little time as possible.”
While the Kats unofficially provided 14 shots on goal, Texas Southern registered just four before coming up short on a barrage late, a result Brown credits to the concentration of Ross.
“I think it's difficult when you don't have a lot of work throughout the game to come up with several big saves in the last five minutes,” Brown said. "That's good seeing her ability to stay focused in the game and come up with the big saves when we need them.”
In the 36th minute, senior forward Shelby McDaniel played a ball in with sophomore midfielder Caitlin Schwartz and freshman defender Lauren Ledbetter pushing up. Bienski crashed the shot and was able to tap it in for the eventual winner.
“As a freshman, it really does bring you confidence out there,” Bienski said. “You feel like you can work with the team and it makes you feel better when you get out there and are able to put one in.”
In two preseason games, the Kats tallied three goals, two coming from freshmen with Micaela Birt netting the eventual match-winner against A&M-Corpus Christi on Monday. For Brown, the goal against the Lady Tigers was a product of converted opportunities created.
“I thought one thing Lindsey did all night was when she had opportunities to really work hard to get in she did,” Brown said. “I think she had two others that she got in but wasn't able to get it into the net. I thought she played better than she did on Monday night with her hustle and trying to create opportunities.”
The Bearkats, chosen second by Southland Conference head coaches in Wednesday's preseason poll, open the 2015 regular season at Louisiana-Lafayette next Friday, and credit the pair of scrimmages towards preparing them for the highly-anticipated match.
“It's provided opportunities for our players to get on the field and experience it and learn,” Brown said. “It's provided essentially 180 minutes of video that we can teach our team inside the classroom and show them what we're looking for and come out and work on it.”
The squad also boasts a league-leading six players on the Southland preseason squads, although for Ross, who enters her final collegiate season, it's the comradery on the squad that could help make the upcoming season a special one.
“I think that we're so close,” Ross said. “We've built this family. Every single person is close so we're being unselfish for each other and we're working hard for each other. We want to get that ring and be on top. We've always had talent and skill but I think for the first time we're getting that team comradery and team culture to match what our skill level is.”
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