Tigers Boot Competition

The women's soccer team has taken the field and their season by storm. With a 5-5 overall record and never having lost a game by more than one goal, these ladies are getting the job done. During Family Weekend, October 1-3, the girls took on both Austin College, who defeated them 1-0, and the University of Dallas, who they beat 7-0.

Says senior co-captain Kate Willingham about Friday's game against Austin College, "We were the better team, but we just couldn't execute. We beat ourselves." The girls spent most of the first half in Austin College's half of the field, but never seemed to accomplish more than a few missed goals. When Austin College got a lucky break near the end of the first half, the Tigers' fate was sealed. 

Fortunately, the team is resilient enough to bounce back after a bad game and after taking Saturday to regroup, they came out in full force against the University of Dallas. On Sunday, they dominated possession of the ball and found the back of the net over and over again "We got hungry," says Willingham, referring to the Lady Tigers' much more offensive mindset during Sunday's. The Tigers were definitely hungry, and showed it by putting the University of Dallas to shame with a final score of 7-0 Tigers. Goals were scored by senior co-captain Fritsl Butler, Layne Ezzell (c'12), Lizzie Butler (c'12). The four remaining goals were scored by Bess Goodman (c'13), who was also named both Tiger of the Week and SCAC Offensive Player of the Week for the week of September 27th-October 3rd for her domination in Sunday's game.

Willingham attributes the team's success these last two seasons (they finished 11-3-3 in the 2009 season) to their coach, Patrick Johnston. "We have an incredible coach," says Willingham. "He's one of the most knowledgeable people about soccer." The Tigers' success is also the result of mutual respect between coach and players. His leadership over the last two seasons has helped the girls to gel as a team, becoming more emotionally involved with both the game and each other. "We're really close-knit," she continues. "And it helps to have a coach that we respect and want to do well for."

In addition to a great coach, the Tiger team is fortunate enough to have some depth in its rosters. Like true athletes, the girls play through the pain of minor injuries when possible, like Willingham's hamstring injury last year, and Tiki Slay's (c'11) broken toe that didn't keep her out of Sunday's game. Other players have stepped up when the team needed them. Virginia Zakas (c'12) is a midfielder turned goalie after the starting goalie, Britt Williams, was injured. Zakas's ability to fill a hole when her team needed her truly represents the depth and athleticism of the team. Many of the players are capable of adapting to different positions, playing defensive in one game, and midfield in the next. They are far from one dimensional, and that's what makes them dangerous.

The Tigers' season continues when they head to Lookout Mountain, GA to face Covenant College on October 15th before returning home to battle Rhodes on the 22nd.