Posted: Aug 27, 2024
(August 27, 2024) De Queen, Arkansas - On a very difficult pitch, in extreme heat, the ladies played at UA Cossatot this afternoon. The ladies are coming off a pair of wins last week against National Park and Dallas College Eastfield. For her efforts last week, Audrey Jordan (Shreveport, LA) was named the NJCAA Region 2 Women's Soccer Player of the Week.
The conditions were such that it was almost impossible to get any flow into the game. The ball was bouncing and running away with every pass or dribble. The ladies did their best to adapt to the conditions and were rewarded in the 6th minute when Audrey Jordan dribbled the ball at the Cossatot back line before finding Jasmin Bislev Nielsen (Aabybro, Denmark) with an accurate pass on the edge of the 18 yard box. Nielsen laid the ball off, and Carla Todd (Lochgilphead, United Kingdom) finished low into the corner with a 1 touch shot to go up 1-0.
The score was doubled in the 9th minute after Todd sent Audrey Jordan through on a dribble past 3 defenders before finishing 1v1 on the goalkeeper. Three minutes later, it was 3-0 as Lidia Rodriguez Dominguez (Ourense, Spain) finished low across the goalkeeper after receiving an inch perfect pass from Nielsen.
The heat started to affect the players as the game slowed down to a walking pace. Cossatot scored with a long free kick, but UARM kept its 3 goal lead going into the half when Audrey Jordan set off on a 40 yard dribble to finish past the advancing keeper to make it 4-1 at the half.
The second half started off in much the same spirit as the first half ended, with players struggling in the heat and a very bouncy pitch. Neither team was able to keep possession for very long, as both teams swapped long ball after long ball with each other. Both teams were barely hanging on physically, and the final whistle came as a huge relief to everyone. Just before the final whistle, the Bucks added to the scoreline due to a right footed line drive from Lidia Rodriguez Dominguez on the right side after receiving a pass from Maegan Hill (Benton, AR) in midfield. With only 30 seconds left, it was 6-1 with Audrey Jordan finishing off yet another 1v1 chance, after being put through by Jasmin Bislev Nielsen.
Coach Kevin Sherry is happy with the 3-0 start to the early season. "It has been a good start to the season but we have to manage expectations which are coming from outside the team. The coaching staff is doing a wonderful job keeping the team focused on their individual roles within the team structure and letting the results take care of themselves, ignoring the noises outside the program telling us what is expected of them. We emphasize to the players to focus on the process and not the outcome in every game. Today was another example of that, and you could see that every player is improving in their individual jobs on the field. The result is a good team performance. We have a small squad, so it is a challenge to manage the playing and training loads, but the team listens and is buying into what is being asked of them by the coaching staff."
The ladies will now turn their focus to region play. The Bucks will hit the road on Sunday to take on Eastern Oklahoma State College. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 pm in Wilburton, OK.
#DefendTheMountain