Hawks encouraged by productive preseason

By Vic Jerald

Sports Information Assistant

MONTGOMERY, Ala.  – The Huntingdon volleyball team and men's and women's soccer teams began preseason practice on Aug. 16.                

Updates for each team's preseason are being featured this week.

Men's Soccer

The men's soccer team is looking for improvement in 2018.

As preseason practice winds down, head coach Matt Cooper and assistant coach Mark Ward are encouraged by what they're seeing from this year's team.

The Hawks open the season at home on Aug. 31. The 3 p.m. game against Belhaven will be the first soccer game played in the new Samford Complex.

Cooper on the team's preseason progress: "Preseason has been pretty productive so far. We have really been focusing on our defensive shape and organization. The guys have really worked hard and are fully committed to what we are trying to accomplish defensively. We ask them to compete and push each other every time we step on the field and they have done a great job of doing that. We are definitely on the right track and will be well prepared for Belhaven and Guilford on the opening weekend."

Cooper on the priorities during the preseason: "Our priorities have been to be really good defensively and to compete. We are fast and athletic and will be dangerous offensively, but we must also be sound defensively. We are really putting an emphasis on being hard to breakdown and score on. And again, we're asking the guys to compete every day in everything we do."

Cooper on the developing leadership of the team: "We have a lot of good leaders in this returning group and they have done a pretty good job in preseason. They are being good teammates to the freshmen and showing them how we operate and do things in our program. We have not named captains yet, but we have challenged our returners to step up and emerge as leaders throughout preseason and some have really risen to this challenge."