As the summer heats up, the Auburn Women's Soccer team prepares for the season kickoff in August. Last season, Auburn tied Louisiana State University for the SEC West Championship, placed 2nd in the SEC Tournament and played in the NCAA Tournament. This season, the coaches and players are hoping to go even further.
"We are looking forward to bringing home 1st place in the SEC Tournament next year, but we have to take the season one game at a time and focus on a victory in every single match," said forward Lydia Townsend, an undeclared sophomore in liberal arts.
This summer, the team members are training individually to get ready for their first game against Samford on Aug. 23.
"If we are prepared individually, then we can begin building as a team during preseason," said midfielder Monica Afanador, a senior in public relations.
The team will start practicing together on Aug. 7, giving them two weeks to work together as a team before the first game.
"Soccer is a sport of physicality and endurance, and returning in top notch shape is the most important thing as we start off our season," Townsend said. "There is always the challenge of being able to gel together on the field within such a short period of time between our first practice and our first match."
Karen Hoppa, head coach of the Tigers, said she is confident in the team's discipline for the summer as they are training on their own.
"We've got such a great group of rising seniors that we aren't worried about the team at all," she said. "They will stay on top of everybody and make sure every body is ready to go."
The nine freshmen that Auburn is welcoming will be given the challenge of playing with the team for the first time after only a few weeks of practice, but Afanador is confident in their abilities.
"I am very excited about the nine incoming freshmen for next year," she said.
"They are ranked the top recruiting class in the SEC West by TopDrawerSoccer.com. I can't wait to see the skills and personalities they will bring to our team."
One of those freshman will be the team's new goalkeeper.
"Our biggest challenge probably is going to be having a freshman in goal," Hoppa said. "Everybody making that adjustment to a new keeper is going to be tough because it's such a crucial position, but we are very excited about this class."
Hoppa thinks they will gel well.
"They bring in a ton of depth to the team and they will be a great compliment to a returning group of players," Hoppa said.
Even with nine new players and a new goalkeeper, the team is setting high goals.
"Each year our team creates a list of goals we want to achieve before the season ends," Afanador said. "Some of our goals include winning the SEC West, the 'Iron Bowl' of soccer, placing first in the SEC, winning the SEC Tournament and making it to NCAAs."
Florida, the defending SEC champion, is going to be among the toughest for the team to rival.
Afanador said while they are hopeful for a Florida win, it's not the focus.
"Even though I'd like to see us beat Florida, our team never looks ahead in our season," Afanador said. "We focus on one game at a time."
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