Ashland University men’s soccer prepares for first home game to kick-off fall season
The Ashland University Men’s Soccer Team prepares for fall season after the Great Midwest Athletic Conference preseason polls were released, with the men finishing third.
The ranking came after the team had a less-than-ideal season with the team finishing with a record of 7-9 in their previous season.
“The problem was without making excuses, we had too many injuries to too many players that were supposed to be playing,” Head Coach Nicholas Roberts said. “So, my hope is we don’t have injuries beginning this season.”
Despite the ranking, Head Coach Roberts finds that the only thing that matters in the end is the NCAA regionals rankings that lead to national tournament selection.
“I’m not interested in polls, rankings are nice for teams to get recognition, but the reality is, they are not always accurate,” Head Coach Roberts said. “In the end, the ranking that will matter will be the NCAA regional rankings that come out about four weeks into the season and that rankings will eventually be used for The NCAA national tournament selection.”
To comeback from last season, players find that Head Coach Roberts is shifting the focus to aiding in recovery after finding that’s what arguably led to the teams’ losses last season.
“There’s been an emphasis on fitness and tactical awareness, with more emphasis placed on recovery and mental preparation to avoid the slow start that hampered them last year,” Goalkeeper Ty Bowden said.
Despite the outcome of the season, Head Coach Roberts notes that his players worked hard until the very last kick.
“Everybody worked until the last kick of the last game,” Head Coach Roberts said. “I had no complaints about the effort we put in. Soon or later, the storm passes, and hopefully the work we put in last year and this coming year will pay dividends this season.”
Another way the team will work on coming back from last season is improving on their home game performance.
“We need to change our narrative at home, even in the seasons that have been deemed to success in recent years our win loss ratio at home has not been good,” Head Coach Roberts said. “I think I’m correct in saying over the past three or four years we have won more games on the road, and we have at home, that has to change.”
Head Coach Roberts plans on installing the idea that the team needs to defend their home turf.
“Defend the castle, don’t let anybody come into our house and push us around,” Head Coach Roberts said.
The team will defend the castle for their first game, home, against Davis and Elkins on Sep. 5 at Ferguson Field – kickoff is at 2 p.m.
