Buffs revamp efforts, seek to rekindle the fire in once-promising season
Coming into the season ranked No. 14 in the nation, the CU soccer team has started the season with a disappointing 4-3-3 record.
CU’s primary problem this season has been putting the ball in the back of the net, having not scored a goal in their three losses. Coach Bill Hempen compared CU’s goal scoring problems to a golf swing.
“If you’re standing over a golf ball, and as you’re going back to swing you’re thinking about too many things, then the ball is going to go all over the place,” Hempen said. “That’s what our kids are doing, they’re getting in front of the goal and they’re not think(ing) about the goal itself, their thinking about too many other things, like all the bad things that can happen.”
Coach Hempen believes that some players are simply putting too much pressure on themselves to score goals.
“I think Nikki Marshall puts too much pressure on herself. I think she thinks she has to score all of the goals and it hurts her when she doesn’t,” Hempen said. “I think Michaela DeJesus is afraid to fail, and she has to understand that I think she’s a great player and that she’s going to get her chances. It’s just a matter of slowing things down and making them as slow as possible. They don’t have to hit every knot on the net, you know, just putting it in the corner counts the same.”
Starting junior center midfielder Alex Cousins identifies CU’s goal scoring problems as a matter of desire and not talent.
“A big part of it is having the fire to score goals,” Cousins said. “When we’re in the box, everyone has to want to score goals. That’s what practice was about this weekend. We need to have some sort of passion before we go in there and try to score goals. We really need to want to score goals and I think we do now.”
The Buffs next game is a Big 12 Conference match-up against Nebraska on Friday Oct. 5.
Michelle Wenino, a starting junior sweeper, feels good about the team’s upcoming match-up with Nebraska.
“We’re pretty comfortable,” Wenino said. “We’re coming off a frustrating loss so our confidence is a little down but we’ve had really hard practices ever since so I feel like we’ve picked up our effort and hopefully that will carry on to the Nebraska game.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Brad Cochi at brad.cochi@thecampuspress.com
