Permanent link for Women's Club Soccer Finishes Regionals and Looks Forward to Nationals on November 8, 2023

On the weekend of October 28-29th, the GVSU Women's Club Soccer team traveled to Lansing, Michigan to play in the Regionals Tournament. The women drew against Wisconsin 0-0 and drew against Purdue 1-1. Pool play ended up being draws all across the board as Purdue and Wisconsin drew 2-2. Because of this, semi-final advancement was determined by goal differential. Purdue scored the most goals in the pool, therefore they moved onto the semi-finals on the weekend.

Though the Lakers didn't finish as they wanted, their hard fought effort did not go unnoticed from coaches and fans!

The women's team coming off of a strong effort now look forward to Nationals. The team will fly out to Round Rock, Texas on November 15th and will hold one practice that night to get acquainted with the fields. The schedule of their games has not been released yet, but pool play is always 2 games on Thursday, November 16th, one being early in the morning and one in the afternoon. Then, the team will play one game on Friday, November 17th. These are guaranteed games to play in. If the women win their pool, whether that be by winning all 3 games, goal differential, etc., they move onto the knockout stages where they will have another game that Friday. They will continue to have games through Sunday unless they lose before then.

We got to ask some of the women questions regarding their performance at Regionals and looking forward to traveling to Nationals.

 

What did you think about your performance at regionals?

"I think it was better than previous years but still not adequate to win. We have been struggling to execute goals and therefore we ended with two ties one being scoreless. We have the talent but we just need to play our skill level. Not moving on based on goal differential is a big bummer." - McKenna Chestolowski, Senior, Center Mid/Forward

 

What are some things you know you need to work on after regionals?

"After regionals, we were disappointed not moving on further, but it gave us an opportunity to reflect and discuss what we need to improve on to get the results we want.  First, we weren't as successful building out of the back to the final third so in our practices on November 1st and 2nd our assistant coach, Alex Pastor had us running drills focused on that.  Second, our first touches were lackluster and led to constant turnaways to our opponent, so getting that technique down has been vital for us. Finally, executing in the final third and putting our shots on frame was another thing we knew we needed to work on because the better team doesn't always win, it simply is the team that scores more goals." - Nicole Miller, Junior, Center Mid

 

What are you guys doing as a team to prepare for nationals?

"We are preparing for nationals by conditioning lots, continuing to advance our team chemistry, and creating good offensive opportunities." - Liberty Bleicher, Senior, Center Back

 

What are you most looking forward to as nationals approaches?

"We are most looking forward to playing against competitive teams and showcasing our skills and talent in the national tournament." - Sophie Stevens, Junior, Forward

 

What is an attribute that sets this team apart from the others?

"Something that sets our team apart is our diverse personalities and the way we harmonize on and off the field. We are a family with a shared passion. We push each other to be our best, but we also know how to celebrate our victories, no matter how small, and provide support when things don’t go as planned. We also genuinely have fun together and enjoy each other’s company." - Clara North, Senior, Center Mid

Categories: Women's Soccer
Posted on Permanent link for Women's Club Soccer Finishes Regionals and Looks Forward to Nationals on November 8, 2023.