By Marcus Fernandes
As the preseason is gone and the conference games are coming, it is impossible not to analyze what the McPherson College women’s soccer program has done so far in their season. The Bulldogs finished their preseason games with no wins and five losses. A simple look at the record will probably induce you to think the program is facing a bad moment. However, this is not the real scenario. According to the technical staff, the rough beginning of season has an explanation, as Coach Olson says, “We started off with a tough non-conference schedule, which really prepared us for the conference.” Indeed, the Bulldogs had a challenging preparation for the season. Even though playing quality opponents, the girls played hard and had some good moments. Texas Wesleyan and Houston Victoria are top teams in the SAC conference and did not have an easy game against the Bulldogs. For most of the time, both games were tied, or the Bulldogs were down by just a goal. Hastings College was a big test for the girls. Ranked No. 9 in the nation, the team from Nebraska had a great win when visiting McPherson, but they certainly left valuable lessons for the Bulldogs to help them with the rest of the season. The girls also had heartbreaking losses against Central Christian and Doane University, where they led the game for the most part. The tough schedule point was proven when Coach Olson said, “We are going to the games very confident, believing we can win every match. Our first conference games we received shootouts. We are having a difficult time scoring, but we are definitely playing very good defensively.” After double 0-0 draws stopping Tabor College, and the good offensive line of Southwestern College, the Bulldogs now look forward to their next two home games against Friends University and Ottawa University.
