Truman State University’s women’s soccer team played their opening match in the GLVC Championship tournament this last Sunday. Before Wednesday’s final regular season match against William Jewell College, the team sat atop the conference in a four-way tie. Junior midfielder Hanna Liljegren said the team has a positive mindset heading into these important games.
“We will be going into this game the same way as the rest: ready to fight for a result,” Liljegren said. “We want to finish first, and we know we are capable of getting that result together.”
The women’s team has shown it is willing to fight and grind out results, as its last three matches have gone to overtime, including back-to-back wins in OT. The team is using these games as a learning experience going forward. Liljegren says good teams find ways to win close games, and this season has taught them how to do that.
While the team is fully capable of battling late in games to earn wins, it’s not something the players want to make a habit of. Junior midfielder Isabel Kurzban said the team is focusing on controlling games going forward.
“We want to put teams away early and not concede goals after we get ahead,” Kurzbahn said.
In their previous game against Illinois Springfield, Truman opened the scoring in the 19th minute before giving up two unanswered goals in 30 minutes. The women were able to equalize early in the second half, giving them the opportunity to score the winning goal nine minutes into extra time.
If Truman can execute its plan to not let opponents back into games once they have a lead, the team knows it can finish exactly where it wants.