USUE Women’s soccer: a bond that cannot be broken

This archived article was written by: Kyndall Gardner

USU Eastern women’s soccer has been hard at work this season and it shows in their record: winning four games, tying one, going into overtime in one and losing one. The team has been faced with challenging teams and have overcome adversary by beating some of the toughest teams in the nation.
The toughest team Eastern has played this season is Monroe College from New York. Last season, Monroe won the national championship and went into this season ranked No 1.
USUE went into this game as the underdogs, being expected to be completely blown out of the water by this experienced and established team. The Eagles did not back down, working hard in the game to keep the score 0-0. The game continued to go into overtime, without a single goal. The team went into double overtime, an incredible feat for the the Eagles. Sadly, a lucky goal was scored by Monroe in the last couple minutes of double overtime. Though Monroe won, the Eagles never hung their heads because they had played up to the standard of the best team in the nation, proving that they are a team to look out for this season.
With 33 women on the team, it could be hard to keep a good team bond, but the women’s soccer team has a bond stronger than most. To be close on and off the field, the team plays, “get to know you” games. This last week, the women were required to sneak into a teammate’s room, find something that they could make up a story about, and take it.
At the end of it all, the team got together to share the crazy stories they made up about their teammates item. After listening to all the funny and crazy stories, the women would go around and tell the real story about the item that was taken from their room. The team can agree that this strengthens their relationships and helps the team’s dynamic when they know their teammates personally.
The team is coached by Ammon Bennett, who is also the men’s soccer head coach. The team agrees that he loves and is knowledgable about the sport, as well as his players. During practice, he’ll ask the players to tell him an interesting thing about them or their favorite color or movie, just so he is more personable with his players. A player/coach bond is crucial to a successful team, that’s why it’s important for Bennett to know his players and care about them.
The team’s main goal is to make it to nationals and win. To do this, the team says confidence is key. If they believe they are just as good as any other team and that they can beat any other team, then they can. Power is in the mindset, and if the team keeps a positive and focused attitude, the believe they can accomplish any goal they set.
Beating Sheridan College and Northwest College 6-0, just to name the score of some of their wins, the team is on fire. They only have a couple home games left in the regular season, playing Mesa State University at home Sept. 26 at 1 p.m., Northwest College Oct. 2 at 2 p.m., and Sheridan Community College Oct. 3 at 1 p.m.