All of you Colorado College kids may have taken a break this summer, but the CC women’s soccer team has been training and playing all summer to improve for the upcoming 2015-2016 season. In July, a group of 20 talented current and former CC women’s soccer players traveled together to South Korea to play in the international competition known as the University Games. To put this into perspective, the University Games is designed for college athletes ages 18 through 28. One hundred and fifty countries were represented along with a full slate of the typical Olympic Sports. All of the teams competing spent two and a half weeks in South Korea preparing and practicing for their six games. CC finished with a 2-6 record overall, and their toughest game during the Games was against France who went on to win the entire competition.
Traveling and playing in these fast-paced games was integral preparation for this season. Louisa Mackenzie, sophomore goalkeeper for the Tigers commented on the experience. “It was good to have the incoming freshman be a part of something so special as well as intense,” she said. “The speed of the game was much faster than what we were used to and definitely more physical, forcing us to play faster and harder. It is a great lesson as we start to play conference games this week.”
The CC Tigers returned to campus on Aug. 5 to begin training for the season and kicked off the season by playing in the “Colorado Cup” with games against Northern Colorado and CU-Boulder. CC is 1-1-0 after a 1-0 win over Northern Colorado and a 0-3 loss to CU-Boulder. The team has five returning starters and a total of twelve players from last year’s team roster. This experience on the roster may prove a considerable advantage in conference play.
Senior captains Sarah Schweiss and Alexis Long are players to watch for this season. Louisa Mackenzie also explained that Schweiss and Long are excellent leaders as they are kind and hardworking, encouraging the team to always be on the track to success. “Playing in South Korea was an incredible opportunity that helped us to improve on our skill set before the start of the season,” said Schweiss. The Tigers will play conference games and continue to compete in the Colorado Cup throughout the season, but for now, their next competition is the University of Pittsburgh. The Tigers will take on the University of Pittsburgh on Sunday, August 30.