University of Northern Iowa Athletics
UNI Women's Soccer Wraps Up Preseason
8/20/2019 5:02:00 PM | Women's Soccer
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - UNI women's soccer wrapped up the 2019 preseason Wednesday August 14.
The Panthers traveled to Moline, IL, playing Eastern Illinois, and coming out on top with a 4-0 win on August 11th. That Wednesday, UNI took on the tough Iowa State team at home, losing 0-4.
"It was good to play a game where we did the exposing, and then playing a game where we were pretty good for the first third and then it exposed a few of our weaknesses," said head Coach Bruce Erickson.
The team welcomes seven freshmen this season, and allowed them to get their foot in the door in the preseason games. This seasons' captains will be Sydney Hayden and Maddy Germann.
"Our freshmen are an interesting group. They're all certainly good enough to play," said Coach Erickson. "In terms of having to count on them, they have met my expectations."
The 2019 schedule for women's soccer holds new experiences, both for coaches and players. According to Coach Erickson, games are spaced out more than they usually are, and there are no exclusively-home weekends or exclusively-away weekends.
"It feels like we have more recovery time, and it will make for easier travel in some ways," Coach Erickson said. "I like the 2019 season, and the way it's laid out. I think you could argue that between all those non-conference games that they are similar to the teams we play in the league. It will be a good test for us," he adds.
The UNI women's soccer team begins regular season games Thursday, August 22nd, playing Chicago State at home at 6 p.m.
