ARCATA, Calif. – The Humboldt State women's soccer team is on the road again navigating another difficult trip to face a pair of CCAA foes. The team takes on Cal Poly Pomona on Friday at 12:30 p.m. before continuing on to Cal State San Bernardino on Sunday at 2 p.m.
The team split two CCAA matchups last week with Chico State and Stanislaus State, managing to defeat the Wildcats by a 2-1 final on Friday, but falling to the Warriors by the count of 2-0 on Sunday.
Junior defender Jensen Smith sees the potential for these coming games to reveal the Jacks' character, saying, "We do have seven games left in conference, and all the teams we play from here on out are very good. But since we did get that win over Chico it showed us that we can beat some of the more challenging teams as long as we play our game."
Smith said that "everyone was playing for each other" during the Chico match and that sort of focus on team mentality is something the team can look to carry forward into future matches. It was an especially significant result given that it was the first time HSU has earned points against Chico since 2012.
"It [the Chico win] shows the growth of our program and the direction in which we're continuing to head," said Head Coach Paul Karver. "And then a little bit of a letdown on Sunday where we just didn't play well. Whether it was the emotions of the game before or the quick turnaround getting ready to leave again this week, we just didn't do a good enough job of managing the game and finishing the chances we had."
Karver looks forward to this weekend being tough, but a "nice challenge" against two teams in the top half of the conference standings. Points on the road, said the coach, are always at a premium.
"With this group, everything we do is fun," said Karver. "That's always the interesting thing; we really enjoy being around each other, we love to train, we love to travel, we love to play. As we get ready for the weekend, there are two big time games, but this is such a tight, connected group that they're ready to go."
