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The Nicholls women’s soccer team opened their 2014 campaign in recent weeks as they looked to find the stride that took them to the Southland Conference Tournament last season.
With eight new freshman and several returning starters including junior forward and Southland Player of the Year Spencer Valdespino, the Colonels have high expectations and expect a return to the conference tournament.
“We expect pretty much the same and still maintain those high expectations,” Colonels coach Dylan Harrison said. “It is our goal to put together seasons that we can be proud of.”
The Colonels started off the season with a 2-1 win over Southern Mississippi, a team that had historically crushed Nicholls in years past. Southern Miss had outscored Nicholls 23-1 in their last five matches.
“To begin a season with a win like that brings our confidence up, for the newcomers and for those who have been here,” Valdespino said.
However, the celebration was short lived as the team found themselves on the receiving end of a 3-0 shutout to South Alabama.
“A few things happened. It is the game. If you are not ready, you may look like you are all about it. We had a chance to score in the first 30 seconds of the game so it looked like we were ready to get after it, Harrison said. “Then, we gave up a pretty soft goal in the first five minutes for the second game in a row. Those things can let a little air out of the team. Not to take anything away from the opponent, they did what they needed to. We didn’t.”
Valdespino believes the team needs to be more consistent if they want to have the same success as last year.
“We played hard and had opportunities. We just did not finish,” the forward said. “They had opportunities and finished. It is as simple as that.”
The Colonels competed in the Crowne Plaza Hotel Invitation in Little Rock this past weekend against Arkansas Little-Rock and Arkansas Pine-Bluff where they split their games. After losing to Arkansas-Little Rock 3-1, Nicholls whomped Arkansas-Pine Bluff 8-0 getting a goal from seven different players.
Surprisingly not among those who scored was Valdespino who led the conference last year in goals with 16. In fact, Valdespino has been scoreless in the first four contests of the year. That does not come as a huge surprise to Harrison.
“She will draw a lot of attention this year, and we have a lot of players that will get overlooked,” Harrison said. “Hopefully due to the amount of attentions she will get, we can punish them.”
One of the areas the senior wants to improve is cutting down her number of shots, which tallied over 100 last season, and doing more to get her teammates involved in the action, which she said can take time.
“We have only been together for three weeks. We are still learning people’s runs and how people want to get the ball,” Valdespino said. “Once we know learn that stuff, we will be able to finish. If we work on that in practice, we will get things done.”
Freshman and Texas native Kaitlyn Caro leads the team in goals scored with two. Caro has also facilitated the field as she leads the team in assists as well.
Caro along with some of the other underclassmen have made the older players watch their backs, although they love the competition according to senior midfielder and forward Kristy Tatom.
“They have made our older players step up because any of them can start,” Tatom said.
While the offense is looking for their groove, the defense looks to replace defensive stalwart Meghan Lanteigne.
They may not have to wait long with freshman defender Katherine Kelly from Ocala, Florida, who has started at center back three of four games this season.
“Meghan is definitely missed, but she (Kelly) reminds me a little bit of Meg honestly, which is a big compliment,” Tatom said.
The Colonels were picked to finish fifth in the Southland coaches’ preseason poll and third in the Southland sports information directors’ preseason poll. That’s OK to them.
“Being the underdog is better than being ranked first every year. You do not have to worry about a huge target on your back,” Tatom said.
Nicholls State University soccer standout Spencer Valdespino gets ready to boot the ball during a practice this week in Thibodaux. After a magical 2013 season where the Colonels far surpassed expectations, Nicholls has ambitions to have another strong year.
