Lady Hornet booters scrap for starting spots
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (bamastatesports.com) – If there was ever a “good problem” for a head coach to ponder, it’s deciding who should be inserted into a lineup when there are a plethora of versatile player options.
Through the opening week of preseason practices, fitness tests and scrimmages, that’s what ASU head women’s soccer coach Jodie Smith sees as he looks optimistically into the 2016 season.
“For me, what stands out, is that I think that we’ve bought into the fitness part of it,” Smith said.
“We’re about the fittest that we’ve been since I’ve been here-as a group. It’s a positive sign. Another positive sign is that we’re identifying players that fit needs for the program and that’s a really nice thing!”
One of the newcomers who has shown to be promising is junior Inma Martinez.
The Missouri Valley College transfer has appeared agile and attack-minded in practice, drawing rave reviews from the coaching staff.
“She’s just a very smooth player,” Smith said. “She’s very technical and has great vision. She will help us maintain possession and get us into the flow of the game.”
Martinez enters the ASU program after a highly successful two-year stint as a Heart of America All-Conference First Team selection.
The Madrid, Spain native led the team in goals (seven) and assists (six) while driving the Vikings to a 12-4-3 overall record and a ranking as high as No. 18 in the NAIA Women’s Soccer Poll.
But Martinez is just one of 10 new players who is expected to see time on the field when ASU hosts Columbus State in a first time meeting between the schools on Saturday at 6 p.m. from the ASU Soccer Complex in an exhibition match.
As for how Smith and his staff would like to alter their approach this season, team culture was something Smith mentioned as an area that he’d like to see strengthened.
“For me, team culture is huge,” Smith said. “How do we interact with one another? You need to learn to become really good teammates. I think if we do that, then the soccer will take care of itself. If we’re good teammates, then that can take us a really far way.”
A good sign for the team is that players have begun to find their comfort zone and have started to work into a better routine by finding a familiar teammate to pair off with in warm up drills.
Effective spacing and knowing when to drop off or when to push the tempo were a couple of the pointers that Smith keyed in with his team in Tuesday’s afternoon session.
“When you’re trying to incorporate 10 new players into a system, everybody needs to know where they need to be on the field,” Smith said. “Sometimes, you got to have reinforcements.”
The Lady Hornets will continue its practice schedule on Thursday with a 3 p.m. scheduled start that is free and open to the public.
