Photo from 2019, courtesy of Sports Information
By Stephanie Dowling, Staff Writer
The Susquehanna women’s soccer team, like all teams, will not be able to complete their spring training season in person this spring as they planned.
Head coach Nick Hoover and assistant coaches Chloe Eisenhuth and Rob Tayler have found ways to adjust and stay engaged during this unprecedented time. The three coaches have done virtual calls to discuss ideas for the adjusted non-traditional season and ways to prepare for next fall.
Hoover said he can’t imagine how senior athletes feel right now.
“I feel terrible for the athletes who were in the middle of their traditional season this spring and had it cut short, especially the seniors. I cannot imagine how jarring and frustrating that must have been. My heart really goes out to the seniors especially.”
The women’s soccer spring season consists of five weeks and 15 total training sessions allowed. They also get the opportunity to have a date of competition against other NCAA teams.
The team was all set to have their three practices a week and lifting sessions with Jon Girard, the head strength and conditioning coach at Susquehanna.
The team was also scheduled to play against Stevenson University and Dickinson College on their date of competition.
This has all changed due to the pandemic. To adjust, the team has been doing position group virtual meetings to discuss tactics, holding individual meetings to go over specifics for next season and sending out videos and PowerPoint presentations to keep the players engaged.
The Landmark Conference coaches arranged a virtual date of competition where each player on each team would record a certain challenge, such as push-ups, body weight squats or consecutive juggles as a way to keep athletes engaged.
Hoover reiterates to the team before they end each weekly call that if they are struggling or need to speak about anything important, to reach out to any of the coaches individually.
River Hawks women’s soccer went 14-4-2 last season. For next season, Hoover said he would like to take another step forward in regard to their performance. The team will be tested early in the season against some of the best teams in the region.
“Not only do we want to compete with those teams, we want to beat them, and set ourselves up to compete for a conference championship,” Hoover said.
Hoover is returning for his 10th year of coaching and his eighth year as head coach at Susquehanna.
The River Hawks are returning three players who were both All-Conference and All-Region last year. The team is also graduating six players, including two that were All-Conference and one who was a team captain. There will be plenty of opportunities for players to step-up in their absence.