The Biola women’s soccer team holds an opening record this year better than any in the last eight years. They are currently 10-1 and have only allowed an opposing team average of 5.7 shots on goal and .55 goals a game.
“We’ve tried to work on our group defending and our team defending and try to put it on the whole team and not just our back four,” said head coach Todd Elkins. “We’d rather the stats to reflect the limiting of chances the other team gets. We don’t want our keepers to have great high stats of number of saves a game.”
THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD DEFENSE
Coach Elkins gives a large amount of credit to his defense for the team’s current success. He recognizes that games cannot be won without a good defense, specifically the back line and goalkeepers, but the whole team focusing on defense and getting the ball in their possession has led to their current success.
“Our defense is completely different than last year,” said senior defender Shea Davis. “I think that has made us have to step up completely. We all came in really nervous about how the season was going to be and we all had to step up as a unit and realize that we can do this.”
This year’s defense has limited the attempts that the opposing team gets on their net by nearly five shots on goal less than last season.
“Heart,” said Davis on what the defense of this season comes down to for her and that is why they have been finding success on the field. Heart serves as the pulse of this year’s Biola defense.
CREATING THE FOUNDATION FOR A STRONG TEAM
Unity proves the key ingredient to every defense. Communication and team chemistry make the foundation of every team and, with a completely new defense for the Eagles this year, team chemistry is something they had to work on.
“I think the success has to do with just playing as a unit and learning each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” said senior defender Michelle Clark. “The biggest difference is communication. We like to talk a lot more on the field than we did last year.”
Clark sees her role on defense as foundational to the team. She focuses on stopping the opposing team’s offense and getting the ball back to our attackers so they have a chance to make a play.
The Eagles have the hardest part of their schedule coming up, as they are set to play Master’s University, Concordia College and Vanguard University in the next three games. All three teams are ranked higher than Biola in NAIA.
Elkins emphasised that the Eagles will take the rest of the season one game at a time. He said the preseason and early season games prepared them for this part of the year. If they remember what they learned earlier in the season and in this week of practice, Elkins has confidence they will do well.
“I think the coaches have done a really good job of just scouting out the other teams as a whole, and just equipping us as a defense to know how they play,” said Clark.
Elkins had his best record as a coach in 2012, when his team went 12-7-1. This year the Eagles remain only two wins away from matching that record.
“Yeah, I think we have it in us,” said Elkins. “I look forward to that record being broken. They have a lot of tough opponents coming up, but yeah, it’s within reach for us.”
