As Ashland women’s soccer coach Glenn Francis points out, the average midfielder runs three to five miles each game. As he also points out, his team only has four full days of practice before its first preseason game.

To make sure his team is fit, Francis puts his team through a series of fitness tests spread out over the first two days of practice. Under the hot August sun, the women had to run a mile in 6 minutes and 50 seconds, which was down from the seven minutes they had to run it in last year. Then they had to run the full length of the field – 120 yards – three times in a minute.

The final test of the day – named after strength and conditioning coach and Olympian A.G. Kruger – was to run full-field suicides, meaning that the players had to run and touch each line of the field and run back. This task had to be completed three times in an average of 2 minutes and 13 seconds.

There are a total of five tests. The players have to pass four of the five to be cleared to practice. Some of them, including junior midfielder Katelyn Peterson, chose to take this one easy.

“Basically, it sounds bad, but we failed it on purpose because we knew it was gonna be a struggle and either we would kill our legs or try to save them for the other tests and pass the other ones,” she said.

The second day started with a series of 40-yard sprints. The players had to sprint the full distance in seven seconds or less, turn around, and run back to where they started in less than 18 seconds.

The final test was to juggle a soccer ball fifty times without it hitting the ground.

For Francis, making sure his team is in shape when they arrive for the season is imperative.

“If we don’t come in at a level that we should be we’re going to get run out of the park,” he said.

Conditioning does not end when the team passes its fitness tests. Preseason practice sessions consist of two hours of running – upwards of seven miles – and stretching in the morning, half an hour of yoga in the afternoon and practicing and playing with the ball in the evening.

Francis estimates that throughout the season six or seven games will be decided based on which team is in better shape. Last year, the Eagles played in six games that went into overtime. Two of those went the full 120 minutes.

He does not want his team to come to campus in peak physical condition, however. Francis wants his team to play its best soccer at the tail end of the season, and fitness is a part of that.

“You don’t want to plateau or peak too early,” he said.

Almost all of the team passed the fitness tests, though Peterson said many of the players came to campus just fit enough to know that they could pass.

Once the season starts, the amount of time that the Eagles can spend running is cut considerable. They normally play two games a week on Friday and Sunday. Tuesday and Saturday are days off, Monday is the day after a game and Thursday is the day before a game. That leaves Wednesday as a fitness day.

Wednesday normally consists of speed training, weight lifting and scrimmaging.

The Eagles play their first game Aug. 30 at Mercyhurst, followed the next day with a game against Gannon at the Gannon Classic. They play at home for the first time 7 p.m. Sept. 12 against Charleston (West Va.).

A game that is marked on every player’s calendar is the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener at Grand Valley State. Last year, the Lakers beat Ashland 2-0 in the conference championship game. GVSU wound up making it to the national championship, which it lost.

“That’s definitely a game where we want to come back and show them that we’re not messing around this year,” Peterson said.

The Eagles will hope to build on the momentum they have coming out of last season, when they won four of their last five games. The ultimate goal for this year is to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since Francis took over in 2010.