After a 2-0 loss to nationally ranked Central Florida and a rained out game against Southern Mississippi that resulted in its cancellation, the UH soccer team has some work to do before their weekend games.
“I’m not too worried,” head soccer coach Chris Pfau said. “It’s one game out of four or five we’ve played.”
“I think it’s easy to get (the team) back with a good training session like (Tuesday’s). It got them back in rhythm.”
At 7 p.m. on Friday, the Cougars will face East Carolina and Marshall at noon on Sunday.
“We got too keyed up on the game (Friday) and too anxious to play a nationally ranked team and forgot everything we learned,” Pfau said.
“It’s tough. We have two nationally ranked teams and then (five) ranked in the region.”
East Carolina is one of those five. Ranked as No. 10 in the Central Region, the Pirates stand at 7-5 and 3-1 in conference.
“Friday and Sunday are going to be tough,” Pfau said. “We have to get points at home so we don’t get stretched at the end of the season.”
Slip-ups in team unity cost the Cougars their lady arch, Pfau said.
“We haven’t reached our max potential,” junior midfielder Fabi Cirino said.
“There’s still a lot to work in, but our tactics have improved a lot from last year. Our defense is doing much better. (Now) we just have to work on bring consistent (as a team).”
Marshall is coming out of a 7-1 loss to Memphis and stand at 6-6 and 2-2 in Conference.
“It’s a tough conference,” Pfau said.
To Pfau, getting through the toughness is all about the basics.
“It’s everything. When to stop, when to pinch in, taking care of the ball and knowing the team shape,” Pfau said. “I think we strayed away from that. Our strength the weeks before was we played together as a team and that’s (the plan this week).”
Next week the Cougars will hit the road and head to Alabama to face UAB on Friday and then Memphis on Sunday. Games will be available online through the CBSSports.com GameTracker. The match against Southern Mississippi was rescheduled for Oct. 28 as a season ender.
