For the fifth straight game, the Miami University women's soccer team will be out of town. Instead of dashing down the pristine green lawn of the Miami soccer field, they will be offering their services in the Volunteer State in the East Tennessee State University Women's Soccer Invitational.
After dropping a pair of games to blemish their 3-0 record, Head Coach Bobby Kramig is hoping his squad (3-2) won't squander and end their non-conference schedule with a pair of "W's" over Winthrop University and Temple University. The Red and White wrestle Winthrop Sept. 10 and tussle Temple Sept. 12.
"After these games, we have four non-conference games left before we start conference play," Kramig said. "If we work on some things, which we did last weekend, we will have two more good non-conference weekends, which will really set us up. We want to go into conference play not experimenting and not searching for answers. I think we made a step toward that last Sunday, so that was good."
Summers-Taylor stadium will be the setting of the weekend for Kramig's team. Last season, the Winthrop Eagles finished 5-10-6 under Head Coach Spencer Smith, but the Eagles return 10 starters. They are 0-2-1 this season and, like the RedHawks, are coming off of two straight losses.
Sophomore midfielder Jess Kodiak has noticed subtle similarities in the non-conference foes to Mid-American Conference (MAC) squads.
"I think that they are about the same quality of play as in the MAC: fast defense and fast forwards," Kodiak said. "Every time you get the ball, you have a girl on and behind you. It is definitely preparing us for the conference games so we know what we are going to go into."
The Red and White will battle the Owls of Temple Sept. 12, who come off of a loss and sit at 2-3. The Owls are an Atlantic 10 opponent and consistently go up against the likes of the University of Xavier Musketeers and the University of Dayton Flyers.
Going into last weekend, the RedHawks had only surrendered two goals, but last weekend the defense caved and allowed eight scores in just two contests. For a team with defense as their calling card, Kodiak knows that the midfield and backs need to collaborate if they want to celebrate after 90 minutes.
"It will be beneficial for us to go off on a positive note," Kodiak said. "As we start the conference, to get a couple wins and getting confident in our defense and scoring abilities and go into the MAC conference and get a few wins off that first weekend and keep going from there."
Kramig said the lineup is not concrete and he will give his young team a chance to work to make their way into the starting 11.
"We will see how practice goes this week," Kramig said. "It's a little early to speculate on the weekend's lineup. That's the nice thing about Tuesday practice. We can go after an off day and everybody comes in with an equal chance to play."
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