STARKVILLE — Aaron Gordon has plenty of reasons to be optimistic.
The Mississippi State women’s soccer team loses only four players from last season. The Bulldogs also boast a 29-player roster that includes three seniors, 10 juniors, eight sophomores, and eight freshmen. Forward Mallory Eubanks, the team’s leading scorer (10 points in 2015), is part of that junior group, which is the largest of any Gordon team at MSU.
But Gordon’s excitement about the 2016 season doesn’t come only from what he sees on paper. Exhibition victories against Memphis (3-0) and Iowa State (1-0) have Gordon looking forward to his team’s season opener against College of Charleston at 6:30 p.m. Friday. The game is part of a weekend that also includes a match against Virginia Tech at 10 a.m. Sunday.
“We won games last year with really no identity,” said Gordon, whose team was 5-10-3 last season. “We didn’t know who we were, what we were trying to do, and we still were trying to figure out lineups. We just had a much better idea coming into the season. Football teams get picked at the top of their conference because of the number of starters they usually have coming back from the year before. I think you probably can apply that to most sports.
“Continuity helps. Being a little bit older helps. Having more athletes helps. Our overall squad is better, even with graduation and losing a couple of people. We’re better. We have a higher work rate. We’re more athletic, and I think it is going to translate into competing in games for wins.”
Gordon was pleased with how his team fared against a young Memphis team. Three days later, MSU handled the short turnaround and adjusted to playing on an artificial turf field (MSU plays its home games on a grass field) against an Iowa State team with seven returners.
“We definitely deserved the 1-0 win,” Gordon said. “I felt comfortable in the 1-0 win. But when you say we had to travel and play on a completely different surface than we’re used to, that’s a pretty good win against another power conference. We’re excited.”
Gordon feels the exhibition matches have set the stage for this weekend and give the Bulldogs a chance to build momentum in the non-conference schedule. That buildup figures to play an important role in the team’s success. MSU was picked 14th in the Southeastern Conference’s preseason poll.
Last season, MSU earned its first victory against a ranked opponent in more than four years, its first conference win in more than three years, and its first win at Arkansas on the road. The Bulldogs finished one point shy of qualifying for the SEC tournament for the first time since 2004.
The addition of eight newcomers, including freshman forward MaKayla Waldner and midfielder Johanna Hamblett, who is from New Zealand, figure to bolster a lineup Gordon believes is strong from the back.
“All of our freshmen have been really, really good, and they have been impactful,” Gordon said. “I am not pressured to put them in the lineup. We have lots of good choices, which is making us deeper. We have easily played 20 in each game, so hopefully that is a reflection of what is to come. We can’t always control that, but I would like to continue to play an expanded roster because I think it keeps us fresher on the weekends.”
While Gordon said continuity is a key ingredient for the Bulldogs in many areas, he has to remind himself this is the first season Eubanks and Waldner are playing together. He said those two have shown signs of making things happen together and that he feels their ability to work off each other only will improve as the season progresses.
“I have gone into the season realizing let’s play to our strengths,” Gordon said. “Our strengths are we are pretty good defensively if we are in the right spots and we play with the right mentality, and we have really tried to hone in on that. We are trying to get our offensive game to catch up.”
Eubanks, midfielder Carly Mauldin, and defender Ari Holmes were named to the SEC’s Preseason Watch List, which highlights top players from all 14 league schools.
Gordon said goalkeeper Tanya de Souza, center back Courtney Robicheaux, central midfielders Mauldin and Hamblett, whose nickname is “Yo Yo,” and Eubanks up front form a solid “spine” he hopes will be the team’s foundation. He said it is imperative for the Bulldogs to be better at the little things and to control what they can control. He hopes more experienced will enable players to make improvements in communication and execution.
Holmes agrees the Bulldogs need to communicate better. She said the unfamiliarity players had with each other played a role in the adjustment period. This season, though, she feels the team chemistry is stronger and has the potential to lead to even better results.
“Last year, we had a lot of new starters,” Holmes said. “This year, we’re just bringing back a lot of the people from last year. There were a lot of new people. It was my first year (at MSU), and I was just getting used to playing in the SEC and playing at Mississippi State.
“I think this year we have learned each other and we know what we’re going to do and what we’re capable of so we have each others’ backs more. I definitely think it will help us win more games.”
Mauldin, whose second goal of the preseason was the game-winner against Iowa State, said the Bulldogs have a better understanding of what everybody can do, and that that comfort level has raised the optimism in the program.
“We’re all closer, so we know how each other works,” said Mauldin, who led the team in minutes and started every game last season. “I think we have momentum going forward, and we know what we have to work on and get better at.”
In addition to the three MSU players who were named to the SEC preseason watch list, Ole Miss’ Addie Forbus, CeCe Kizer, and Marnie Merritt and Alabama’s Celia Jimenez Delgado and Emma Welch were recognized.
MSU will play host to Lipscomb at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 26, in its home opener.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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