SE: Souder Uses Emotional Meeting to Build Confidence, Become Two-Way Asset for K-State Soccer
Oct 17, 2019 | Soccer, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
The day after a double-overtime loss to Baylor, K-State soccer junior Maddie Souder went up to assistant coach Gabe Romo after practice and lost it. Pent up frustration poured out of the midfielder.
"I was struggling a bit, and I just let it rip to him," Souder said. "We just had that deep talk and, ever since then, I've been on my game."
Souder's "game" was integral in K-State's 2-1 home win against Iowa State last week.
A midfielder who's admittedly more natural defending, Souder won 8 of 11 tackles against the Cyclones and 4 of 6 headers. She also completed 47 of 49 passes, an extremely high success rate and a huge step for the Lee's Summit, Missouri native. One of her passes was a game-tying assist to Brookelynn Entz, who really noticed Souder's play when watching film with assistant coach Kat Benton earlier this week.
"We saw her, on the goal I scored, get the ball, control it, bring in like three defenders and then she just laid it off to me to have a one-v-one opportunity," Entz said, as K-State plays at No. 23 Kansas on Friday at 7 p.m. "That was amazing for her to be able to step into that more attacking-minded offensive player. That's helped us a lot."
"She's been more affective, offensively. Her passing ratios have been really, really good," K-State head coach Mike Dibbini said. "She's always done well for us defensively, covering ground, and intercepting passes, but as far as the offensive ratio, she's taking care of the ball, securing the ball and starting our attack."
Souder pointed to a higher level of confidence as the main reason for her improved offensive impact. She said reaching that point, however, stemmed from her confidence bottoming out, which led to the heart-to-heart with Romo.
"I remember after practice I just went up to him. Everyone had left the field. It was just me and him, and I was just letting him hear all my frustrations. He definitely helped me cope and I've just flipped a switch ever since then," Souder said, before getting into specifics. "He helped take the blame. I was frustrated with my play, but he was helping take the blame for my play, and I think that made me feel better and gave me confidence on the field. Like, 'OK, Gabe's got my back.'
"He's helped me build confidence, for sure."
Since her talk with Romo, Souder HAS been rock solid as a two-way player.
Against Texas, she took on the bulk of defending Julia Grosso, last year's Big 12 Freshman of the Year who also played on Canada's World Cup team this year, and more than held her own. She did her normal dirty work in the back. She snuffed out attacks and hustled to keep balls in play, including one that erased what would have been a Texas corner kick.
Souder also completed 13 of 16 passes (81 percent) against the Longhorns. She followed it by completing 26 of 32 (81 percent) in a 2-1 loss to Oklahoma State.
"I think it's mainly confidence," Souder said. "I have more confidence in myself and in what I'm able to do when I get the ball. I used to get kind of scared of what I could do when I'm on the ball, but now I know when I get it, I'm going to keep it for my team and I'm going to help build out from the back line into the attacking side of it."
Against Iowa State, Souder's confidence shot up even more. Only two of her nearly 50 passes did not connect. It was further proof of her capabilities.
"It, again, goes back to confidence," she said. "It made me really see how I can connect passes throughout the team. If I'm connecting the passes, then the team will follow me. I think seeing that I had a 96 percent passing rate, I was, like, 'OK, I can do that.' There were times where I felt like I couldn't, but now I know I can, and that confidence just keeps building."
It's evident to those around her, too.
"I've definitely seen that on the field," Entz said. "She's just going at it. She's acting like she's the best player on the field, because she is, and she's going to win every single ball that comes near her."
The day after a double-overtime loss to Baylor, K-State soccer junior Maddie Souder went up to assistant coach Gabe Romo after practice and lost it. Pent up frustration poured out of the midfielder.
"I was struggling a bit, and I just let it rip to him," Souder said. "We just had that deep talk and, ever since then, I've been on my game."
Souder's "game" was integral in K-State's 2-1 home win against Iowa State last week.
A midfielder who's admittedly more natural defending, Souder won 8 of 11 tackles against the Cyclones and 4 of 6 headers. She also completed 47 of 49 passes, an extremely high success rate and a huge step for the Lee's Summit, Missouri native. One of her passes was a game-tying assist to Brookelynn Entz, who really noticed Souder's play when watching film with assistant coach Kat Benton earlier this week.
"We saw her, on the goal I scored, get the ball, control it, bring in like three defenders and then she just laid it off to me to have a one-v-one opportunity," Entz said, as K-State plays at No. 23 Kansas on Friday at 7 p.m. "That was amazing for her to be able to step into that more attacking-minded offensive player. That's helped us a lot."
"She's been more affective, offensively. Her passing ratios have been really, really good," K-State head coach Mike Dibbini said. "She's always done well for us defensively, covering ground, and intercepting passes, but as far as the offensive ratio, she's taking care of the ball, securing the ball and starting our attack."
Souder pointed to a higher level of confidence as the main reason for her improved offensive impact. She said reaching that point, however, stemmed from her confidence bottoming out, which led to the heart-to-heart with Romo.
"I remember after practice I just went up to him. Everyone had left the field. It was just me and him, and I was just letting him hear all my frustrations. He definitely helped me cope and I've just flipped a switch ever since then," Souder said, before getting into specifics. "He helped take the blame. I was frustrated with my play, but he was helping take the blame for my play, and I think that made me feel better and gave me confidence on the field. Like, 'OK, Gabe's got my back.'
"He's helped me build confidence, for sure."
Since her talk with Romo, Souder HAS been rock solid as a two-way player.
Against Texas, she took on the bulk of defending Julia Grosso, last year's Big 12 Freshman of the Year who also played on Canada's World Cup team this year, and more than held her own. She did her normal dirty work in the back. She snuffed out attacks and hustled to keep balls in play, including one that erased what would have been a Texas corner kick.
Souder also completed 13 of 16 passes (81 percent) against the Longhorns. She followed it by completing 26 of 32 (81 percent) in a 2-1 loss to Oklahoma State.
"I think it's mainly confidence," Souder said. "I have more confidence in myself and in what I'm able to do when I get the ball. I used to get kind of scared of what I could do when I'm on the ball, but now I know when I get it, I'm going to keep it for my team and I'm going to help build out from the back line into the attacking side of it."
Against Iowa State, Souder's confidence shot up even more. Only two of her nearly 50 passes did not connect. It was further proof of her capabilities.
"It, again, goes back to confidence," she said. "It made me really see how I can connect passes throughout the team. If I'm connecting the passes, then the team will follow me. I think seeing that I had a 96 percent passing rate, I was, like, 'OK, I can do that.' There were times where I felt like I couldn't, but now I know I can, and that confidence just keeps building."
It's evident to those around her, too.
"I've definitely seen that on the field," Entz said. "She's just going at it. She's acting like she's the best player on the field, because she is, and she's going to win every single ball that comes near her."
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