Lady Hawks to open season on Thursday

By Chuck Tidmore

Sports Information Assistant 

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon women's soccer team opens its season on Thursday and the Lady Hawks have been working hard, leading up to the game.

First-year head coach Matt Gill said his team practiced well during the preseason, but would like to see the team be more consistent now that the regular season is here.

"Once school started, it seemed our girl's concentration and focus went away a little bit," Gill said. "We are still trying to create a new culture here, but it's been going well."

Gill joins Huntingdon after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Virginia Wesleyan. The Lady Hawks return nine players from last season's roster and adds eight players for the 2016 season. Huntingdon finished 4-10-2 last season and 11th in the USA South Athletic Conference. Gill believes the chance to be successful is in the small details.

"It's all about winning the day," Gill said. "The USA South is very competitive and we need to focus on the details to be successful. We are trying to get the girls in here that want to compete and win, and I think we are headed in that direction."

Huntingdon opens its 2016 season at Birmingham-Southern at 5 p.m. on Thursday. Last year, the Lady Hawks fell 2-0 to the Panthers.

"It's going to be a battle against BSC," Gill said. "I think it's cool that Huntingdon and Birmingham-Southern are the only Division III schools in Alabama. It's a cool rivalry to have and we haven't gotten the results in the past, but in the future, starting tomorrow, it will be a good game.

"The girls are excited and are chomping at the bit to play, so we're going to have fun."

Gill announced that his 2016 captains will be seniors Kira Bohlke, Clara Tapplin and junior Madi Critcher.

The Lady Hawks feature two seniors and two juniors on this season's roster and Gill has seen positive steps with his upperclassmen leadership and impact the freshmen class has been making.

"Coming into the fall season, it was a new experience for the girls, even though we had a spring season together," Gill said. "The returners have done a great job of buying into the process and they have been great since the spring season. Their communication with the newcomers has been great and they have welcomed them in, instead of making them feel like outcasts.

"Overall, it's been a hardworking freshmen class. They are going to have to play and step up as freshmen when normally a program is relying on their juniors and seniors. We're going to start about three or four on Thursday and you usually don't know what you will get with younger players, so it's going to be exciting to see."

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