Southeast Community College’s
women’s and men’s soccer teams held their inaugural matches on Friday, April 2,
at the new soccer field on the Beatrice Campus. This is the first season for
Storm soccer since it was canceled last year because of COVID-19.
“We have definitely had our share of hardships surrounding all the
COVID-related changes and the effects it’s had on our team/roster,” said
women’s head coach John Hakari. “The girls have been training hard since
August, and they were really looking forward to finally having an
opponent.”
The teams competed against
Western Nebraska Community College on April 2, and Otero Junior College on
April 3. The women’s team lost 6-1 and 5-1, and the men’s team dropped 4-1 and
6-0 matches. Both Storm coaches are glad to finally get the season off to a
start and start competing.
“It felt good to finally get
out there and see the team and roster we’re working with as a staff moving
forward,” said men’s head coach Alex Scheuler. “I think everyone is happy to
get the first couple of games in the books and get in the routine of playing,
instead of just training.”
“We showed that we can hang with these good teams as we scored
early goals in both matches,” Hakari added. “It will only get better as game
fitness improves through the season.”
Dylan Tridle
was named Player of the Week for the men’s team. The freshman goalkeeper had 11
saves against Otero. For the women’s team, freshman Trinity Babcock was named Player
of the Week for her goal against WNCC, and her assist against Otero.
“After
scoring the first goal, it was a great feeling,” Babcock said. “It showed that
we can compete with these other teams by playing together and putting what
we’ve learned as a team into our games.”
The teams
travel to Pratt, Kansas, to play Pratt Community College on Wednesday, April 7.
For more on Storm soccer and other sports, click on www.sccstorm.com.