CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Veteran UNC Greensboro head women's soccer coach
Michael Coll understands the first two weeks are a work in progress.
He's structured the two exhibitions, including Thursday's 2-0 setback to Charlotte at TransAmerica Field, a specific way so that he and his staff can evaluate different types of criteria that will be critical to their success when the season kicks off for real Thursday night at home against High Point at 7 p.m.
Think of the Spartans resembling a four-lane highway that's been reduced to one lane because of construction.
"It's hard to talk about what I liked and what the positives or negatives were," Coll said. "These two games, we played three distinctly different formations in each 30-minute period and we're also substituting a lot. There's no flow in the games and that's because of my coaching decisions. It's tough for the players because the game doesn't have any flow and it's tough for the players."
In the big picture, the results from the two exhibitions aren't relevant. The video of players reacting to challenging situations during the match provide the necessary clarity for the staff.
"We've needed to experiment," Coll said. "We've gotten answers from the experiments. The effort has been totally fine in both games. Now, we're going to get down to focusing on one or two formations because the season starts this week."
Rachel Rouse led the Spartans with a pair of shots. Also generating shots on goal were
Natalie Sabiston,
Ashley Bido, and
Nadia Wilson. The goalie triumvirate of
Aiyanah Tyler-Cooper,
Jill Ginn, and
Abby Buchholz combined to make eight saves.
Overall, Coll and the Spartans are where they need to be after almost two weeks of training.
"Training overall has been positive and it's going to set us up in a nice place," Coll said. "Our building steps are very clear of where we have to go and I think we all know that."
NOTES: The women's soccer program kicks off the 2021-22 UNCG sports campaign by hosting High Point on Thursday, August 19 at 7 p.m. The contest is part of the University's Welcome Week and the first 200 students in attendance will receive a free Chick-Fil-A sandwich and UNCG tank top.
