High on a talented crew of freshman newcomers, Murray State women's soccer coach Gary Akin was extremely pleased by his team's lone preseason outing last weekend heading into Saturday's regular season opener at home.
The Lady Aggies will play host to Garden City Community College from Kansas in the noon start.
"The girls are working really hard and have learned a few new formations," Akin commented. "We are pretty happy with how its progressing. Jordan Medlock is doing a great job at center back and looked really good in the scrimmage. Abigail Escobedo moved around really good, and Liz Sanchez was just phenomenal. Aliyah Tomlinson also did a really nice job this weekend.
"All of our returnees provide experience those freshmen don't have. It gives us a level of consistency."
Murray State showed some good signs in a 3-1 scrimmage triumph against a physical Richland College group that opens the season ranked ninth in the NJCAA Division III national rankings.
Even a bigger positive was that all three scores came from the athletic freshman crew. Caliber Keene punched in one off a Lily Humes assist. Myah Evans added another after being fed by Hanna Brew and then Brew scored thanks to another nice Humes assist.
"It was pretty quality scrimmage for us," Akin said. "Three freshmen scored all the goals which if very encouraging. Those freshmen are doing what we expected them to do. Seeing all the extra work Hannah put in is paying off. She can move around a lot. Lily Humes is doing a great job and was named our other captain. Myah Evans is pleasant addition. She provides a strong presence at the forward position.
"I feel confident putting any of our girls on the field. It's difficult to say what our rotation in and out will be. We may need different personnel for different situations. We are confident in all 22 girls."
Goalkeeper looks to be a strength as the Lady Aggies yielded just the one goal with Mia King and Jimena Guevera splitting time.
"We played Mia King in the first half, and she has a fantastic tactical awareness. Jimena Guevera played the whole second half. Both are dynamic keepers to watch and will be big assets."
The Lady Aggies will face a quick tune-up in the Saturday opener as they prepare for a rugged three-game non-conference stretch after that, which includes three Top 20 ranked teams in the country
with Hill College, Northern-Tonkawa and Rose State.
"We play in a very, very difficult region," Akin admitted. "We have a very tough schedule early. We'll have three Top 20 opponents after Dodge City. We'll have our work cut out but if girls keep doing what they are supposed to do, I feel like we will be very competitive.
"I really think we'll be more attack-oriented this year. We are transitioning fairly quick to get in the attacking half and generate scoring opportunities quickly. We are going to attack goal and see how it goes."
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