Tech’s Soccer team is back in action this semester after their season was canceled last fall due to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of playing a normal schedule, Tech will play 10 games within the Ohio Valley Conference this season. After starting the season with three wins earlier this year, the team has fallen back to an even record with three straight losses. They are currently ranked fifth in the OVC with four games left to play.
Tech’s Head coach, Steve Springthorpe, is glad that, despite all the challenges due to the pandemic, his team is competing this semester and knows they still have a chance for a conference championship.
“I’m happy we’re getting the chance to play. This season has been a little up and down… we’re still in the mix of our conference with four games left… I’m pleased we are getting the opportunity to potentially play for a conference championship,” Springthorpe said.
Springthorpe said that this season has been different for the team because they went over a year without playing a competitive game.
“We didn’t really play a competitive game for 16 months, which kind of makes it hard on players, and it’s tough on the young players who didn’t get a chance to play and now don’t have the experience they would have had,” Springsthrope said.
Last fall, after not competing for over a year, Isabelle Austin, senior goalkeeper and team captain said that it was weird to be back on campus but not competing. She also said that it was mentally draining not being able to play any games throughout the semester.
“The first month of fall was very weird… normally we would have like 12 games in the month of August, so for us to come back and not have a single game and only practice was very very weird,” Austin said. “I’d say mentally it was hard because days were repeating themselves…we would practice six days a week and then have a day off and then do it again the next week and then the week after that.”
As team captain, Austin said that it has been difficult to lead the team during these times because of the uncertainty of the pandemic and the new normal the team was operating under.
“It is hard to lead a team in the world that we are living in now. There were questions every week when I didn’t have the answers and coach didn’t have the answers… it was crazy,” Austin said.
Tech will play Jacksonville State University on April 2 at 3:00 p.m. For more information, visit the Tech Athletics website.
Photo provided by Morehead State Athletics
