SE: K-State Soccer ‘Miles Ahead’ of First Season, Eager for Program’s Second Year
Aug 07, 2017 | Soccer, Sports Extra
A year's time can make the world of difference for any team. For K-State's soccer team, coming off its inaugural season, its progress in the last 12 months has been extremely visible. And it only took one week of practice to see it.
The chemistry is better. The talent is deeper. The confidence is higher.
"We're miles ahead in terms of growing chemistry," K-State head coach Mike Dibbini said. "I think the spring helped us tremendously for the fact that we grew as a family. We grew stronger with more chemistry as a family and you can see it on the field."
"We have made so much progress in such little time that it's crazy," added sophomore midfielder Laramie Hall. "Especially thinking back to where we started last year, it's leaps and bounds better."
In the program's first season, K-State posted a 4-9-3 record against a schedule that included two conference champions and collectively combined for a record of 146-111-34.
The Wildcats, who will take on an even tougher schedule in their first year of Big 12 action, graduated just one player last year. They add 13 newcomers, which includes 12 freshmen that are catching on quickly.
"They're really great," Hall said of the freshmen. "They work really hard, so I think it will be awesome to incorporate them in as different pieces on the field because they have things that we lacked last year, so it's going to be awesome to see how they transition into the games."
Fortunately, unlike a year ago, these freshmen can lean on the experience others have in the program.
"It is good because we know what the coaches want. It's just really about helping the newcomers and making sure they know what's expected and our standards, on and off the field," junior defender Haley Sutter said. "The girls this year, they're very advanced already, which is really good. They're very coachable and they're learning really quick so I think that's going to be important for us, especially since we're starting preseason soon. Our first games are coming up, so it's really important that we just quickly learn how to play together."
"I think it's a lot easier now that it's not like 36 new people. It's 13 new people coming into what we already had. I think it's a lot easier for them," Hall added. "Everybody kind of knows the expectations now, so we can share with them what those are, rather than last year where we had to come up with them on the fly."
Those expectations, Hall continued, include making a run at the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City, where the top eight teams from the conference's regular season will battle for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Within that goal, however, are program-based objectives that can be achieved regardless of the final score.
"We want to put something out on the field every game of really working hard and we want teams to walk away from us thinking, 'Wow, that was a really hard-working team,'" Hall said. "No matter the outcome, that's what we want."
Added sophomore forward Dora Gallo: "If we can outwork the rest of the teams, I think we'll be in a lot of games and we'll be competitive in the conference."
So far, the team's work ethic and competiveness have been noticeably improved.
"Practices are just really, really intense and competitive," Hall said. "I think that's something we didn't have last year as much in the beginning."
"You can just see how it's building, how it's coming together and how players are coming in and they're being so competitive," sophomore midfielder Ashley Zane added. "It's going to really help us this year."
Dibbini said the returning experience from last year's team combined with the talented class of newcomers has already created a more competitive environment at every position.
"There's some depth this year. I don't know if we're going to see any complacency like we did in the past with players," he said. "I think all of them understand their roles but they all understand that every single training session is going to be very important for them to get the minutes they want and minutes they deserve."
Following last Friday's Purple-White Scrimmage, K-State will travel to play a pair of exhibitions at Minnesota on Friday and at UMKC on Sunday, before opening up its second season with a road trip northwest to play Oregon State on August 18 and Oregon on August 20.
"I'm excited to play a different opponent with our new teammates, see how we can bond and what it's going to be like," K-State senior goalkeeper Miranda Larkin said. "I'm excited we get these exhibition games before moving into season. It'll be really good seeing how it turns out on the field."
K-State will open its eight-match home schedule against Omaha on Wednesday, August 30. Single-game, standing-room only tickets for K-State home matches are available through the K-State Athletics Ticket Office (800-221-CATS, www.kstatesports.com/tickets).
Tickets start at just $5 when purchased in advance. Standing-room only group tickets are available for $3 with the purchase of 12 or more tickets. On match days, general admission tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children (12 and under), military personnel and senior citizens. Grandstand seating is sold out. All single-game tickets and new season tickets are available as standing-room only, which includes the southwest grass berm, behind the north goal and designated areas on the east side of the field.
To become a member of the K-State Founder's Club and have access to season tickets for the 2017 season, contact the K-State Athletics Ticket Office at (800) 221-CATS or www.kstatesports.com/tickets.
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