On Oct. 23, the team finished the regular season with a record of (9-4-2) and advanced to the conference tournament. Their first match of the conference tournament took place on Nov. 1 against Florida Tech. The teams met during the regular season on Oct. 19, and NSU walked away with a 1-0 victory.
Head Coach Mike Goodrich said conference matches are always extremely competitive, and he was not surprised that the match came right down to the wire.
“I think it’s typical of our conference that all the games are decided by a goal, so I don’t know if having played them up there already gives us any advantage or disadvantage. I think it’s going to boil down to who makes the plays to win the game,” said Goodrich.
Malin Broberg, sophomore forward, led the team with seven goals during the regular season, and despite the importance of the conference tournament matches, she said she is keeping her cool.
“I’m a forward, so I always feel pressure that I have to score. To me this is an important game because, if we lose, the season is over,” said Broberg.
Broberg believes team chemistry has been their greatest asset this season, and in order to succeed at the SSC tournament, they must maintain that chemistry.
“We have to play together as a team. We have to come out there and show that we really want to play. We have to communicate a lot and stay connected,” she said,
Dilja Olafsdottir, sophomore defender, played an instrumental role in the victory over Florida Tech on Oct. 19. Not only did she hold the opponents scoreless, she scored the lone goal of the match. Olafsdottir said Florida Tech was very tough to score against.
“We have to play more as a team. That’s what we’re focused on. When we play as a team, everything just works for us,” said Olafsdottir.
Goodrich said tournament matches are more intense, and the team will have to be prepared for that. Other than winning the conference tournament, he wants to see maximum effort from the players.
“[I want to see us] play together as a team; win, lose, or draw. I want to see us outwork our opponents,” said Goodrich.
Sharing the ball is very important to the team, and it showed during the regular season as they led the conference in assists per game with 2.53. Neither Broberg nor Olafsdottir want the season to end.
Broberg said, “This is what we live for.”
