The William Jewell College women’s soccer team is in the midst of its season after finishing 6-8-3 last season. In the last game they lost to conference opponent Truman State. The loss drops the Cardinals to 4-5-1 overall and 2-5-1 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC). Though they lost, the team played seriously throughout the game.
“We never stopped. We had a shaky start but the second half we put up a better fight. That’s one thing we need to continue to do, fight for each other. Our team is young but we are full of talent and we need to work on believing in each other and believing we are better than the other teams we face,” said McKenzie Kellogg, senior.
After having no shots on goal in the first half, Jewell was able to shoot seven in the second half, two on goal. However, none of the shots reached the back of the net.
Jade Gifford, senior, led the Cardinals with three shots followed by Sydney White, junior, with two. Hayley White, freshman, and Aspen Hawkins, sophomore, each chipped in one shot.
“As a team we had some very good moments of possession and chances to score. We need to work on finishing those chances and not allowing the other team to capitalize and score goals on our mistakes,” Hawkins said.
In her first start since an early season injury, Jewell goalie Alex Dressman, senior, allowed one goal and recorded three saves.
The Cardinals, despite the loss, are in high pursuit of their team goal: playoffs.
“Our goal is always to make playoffs, and we do this by taking it one game at a time. We can still reach it if we dig down deep and win these last home games and then transfer it over to win the last away games,” Kellogg said.
The Cardinals continue to keep their playoff hopes alive against USML this Friday Oct. 9.
“We have a big weekend ahead of us here at home, which will be a big game, as they are currently ranked in the top half of the conference. As long as we play well, I believe we have a great chance to upset UMSL and get a big conference win,” Hawkins said.