Kat Conner doesn’t know that the Bobcats are ready to play yet. But she’s ready to find out.
Texas State saw the start of its 2020 schedule kicked back by two weeks, then had all but one of its non-conference opponents cancel their matches due to concerns surrounding COVID-19. With the delayed start and no exhibition teams to compare the team to, the head women’s soccer coach has struggled a bit to figure out what the strengths and weaknesses of this year’s squad will be.
“It would help if we could have some games because right now, you don’t know how good you are or what needs to be worked on,” Conner said. “I mean, we don’t know what we don’t know. And so we need to go against other people to see what we need to do.”
However, the delayed start to the year has afforded Texas State more time to prepare for the season — one of the few blessings during the COVID pandemic for a team that lost six seniors, including four former All-Sun Belt First Team players, and brought in 10 freshmen during the offseason.
“This team is obviously a lot younger than last year’s,” senior midfielder Renny Moore said. “We have a lot of youth coming in with 10 new freshmen. And they’re all doing really well, so we have a lot of energy. It’s new and we’re trying to get everyone to learn the system and everything.”
The Bobcats were voted fourth in the league in the 2020 Sun Belt Coaches Poll with 84 points, but will need to rely on younger players this year to improve on last season’s sixth-place finish, with a 9-7-3 overall record and a 5-4-1 record in conference play.
Conner has been impressed by the newcomers so far. She originally didn’t think Wimberley Wright would be developed enough skill-wise to play much this season, but the freshman forward has been proving the head coach wrong in practice so far. The same goes for freshman forward/midfielder Haley Shaw.
Freshmen midfielders and twin sisters Alana and Trinity Clark both remind Conner of former Bobcat starter Rachel Grout (2014-17).
“You can see them really sponging it up,” Conner said. “We’re trying to plant the seeds and trying to get them to grow into what we need them to be. And they’re coming along. I’m impressed that they’re being able to pick up the pace, not just physically but also mentally. And that seems to be getting better and better.”
The team will still rely on its upper classmen, though. On the back line, senior defenders Sarah Everrett and Holly Streber and juniors Addison Gaetano and Gabie Jones each started in double-digit games in 2019, allowing just 10 goals all season.
In the midfield, Moore led the team last year with a 52.4 shot-on-goal percentage among players who attempted at least five shots. Junior Hannah Solano returns after leading the team with four assists, as does Mackenzie Smith, last year’s second-leading scorer with two goals.
Texas State also gets senior forward Sydney Kammer back, who missed all of last season due to injury after playing in 20 matches in 2018, starting in two.
“Sydney’s doing really, really well,” Moore said. “She’s come back and she’s been putting in a bunch of goals. So she’s been killing it. Hopefully she does it all season.”
Conner described this year’s team as less gritty than last year’s, but said that this year’s squad displayed more finesse.
“It almost looks like they’re not going as hard as what you would think, like (former Bobcat Jordie Kondikoff) and them do, you know, physically. But really they are,” Conner said. “And so it’s just kind of a sleek little look. It’s a different look than what we’ve been before, that’s for sure.”
The maroon and gold will get tested against Stephen F. Austin this Friday inside Bobcat Soccer Complex at 6 p.m. and Houston Baptist on the road Sunday at 7 p.m. before diving into a eight-game stretch of Sun Belt play on Sept. 20.
The team is still hoping to add a few more non-conference contests in the two-week gap. But regardless, the shortened season means each match will matter a lot more.
“It’s gonna be hard. It’s gonna be really hard. I mean, usually by now, you’ve got a good lineup, you know who’s really being consistent,” Conner said. “It’s like I was telling (the players), we’re playing every 15 minutes right now on the clock and there is no time off. You gotta come out — as soon as you cross that line, you’ve psychologically gotta be ready and tuned in. Because just that one split second or that one mistake could cost you. So it’s gotta be a really focused effort.”
Moore feels like the team is ready for the challenges a pandemic-influenced season will bring. She’s excited to play in the first match of the year.
“I think the biggest thing … is just doing everything we can and taking each day, you know, day-by-day. So we’re trying to control what you can control because there’s so much we can’t control right now,” Moore said. “I mean, obviously, we want to go out and if we can win conference, we want to win conference and do the best we can and qualify for NCAA’s if that’s in the spring. But just win each day.”
