Lady Eagles continue home winning streak

The Southern Miss women’s soccer team (3-3-1) triumphed 2-0 at home Friday with a shutout against the Arkansas State Red Wolves (5-3).

    The match was not only physically but also unusually hot. Jordan Wagner, senior midfielder/forward from Geneseo, Ill., said the heat was the biggest challenge for the team.

“It was really cool this week in practice, so feeling like we couldn’t breathe was kind of hard, especially for a full ninety minutes,” Wagner said. “It was rough.”

    The crowd, however, watched the game comfortably from the shade. Red Wolves and Eagles fans alike saw a very aggressive non-conference game that ultimately resulted in a big win for Southern Miss. The win also saw no injuries.

    “I wanted to see if we could get through our last non-conference game healthy,” said Scott Ebke, head coach. “Health is one of the rigors of the season, and we definitely came away from the game healthy, which is important for us.”

    Junior forward Danica Roberts explained that health had been emphasized throughout the last week.

“We had weights twice this week and worked hard to get strong for this day, and in practice we focused on staying hydrated and healthy,” Roberts said.

    Not only did the Lady Eagles come out healthy, they came out with big saves and even bigger scores. Red-shirt junior Lindsey Schwaner had six saves, and the rest of the Eagle defense stopped other Red Wolves opportunities dead in their tracks.

“Our defense played great today,” Wagner said.

Offensively, Roberts scored a goal in the thirtieth minute. To top that, seniors Wagner and Kristen Windecker assisted the other junior forward Chelsea Cruthirds with a goal in the 74th minute of the match.

    With such a big win in the team’s last non-conference game, the Lady Eagles are preparing to focus on playing UAB Friday.

    “It’s a physical game all the way through,” Ebke said. “They’re a very talented team. They move the ball around, they’re athletic, they’re fast and have a good goalkeeper. We’re just going to have to prepare as best we can.”

    As athletic as UAB may be, the school will be coming off a disappointing loss to Florida Atlantic University last Sunday. FAU had a 20-11 shot advantage over UAB, and though the Blazers had a comeback bid later in the game, they lost 4-3, bringing their record to 1-7.

    Southern Miss and UAB will play at 7 p.m. Friday, and the next home game will be Friday, Sept. 28 against Rice.