Last Saturday, April 17, the women’s soccer team hosted the first round of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Tournament against Schreiner University and won 9-0 to advance to the semifinals against Texas Lutheran University (TLU) this Friday, April 23.

Typically, the women’s soccer SCAC Tournament is played over one weekend with the host team randomly selected every year. This year, women’s soccer is still having one team (TLU) host the semifinals and the finals of the tournament. However, the top four seeds got to host the quarterfinals, which is why the Tigers were at home this past Saturday. Due to SCAC and TLU regulations, fans that are not affiliated with TLU will not be allowed to watch the tournament games. The semifinals will be on Friday and the SCAC finals will be on Saturday, April 24.

Two weekends ago, the team traveled to Louisiana to face off against Centenary College. It was an extremely close game, going into a second overtime with sophomore midfielder, Bailey Meyer, scoring the winning goal in the 120th minute. After such a close game and so much travel, the team was ready to be back on Paul McGinlay Field.

“The team was really eager to be in an environment we could control more. Being at Centenary so far from home, with lots of unpredictable variables, it made us feel a bit overwhelmed and out of place. Coming into the game against Schreiner we were super excited to not be dealing with those similar variables anymore. Beyond just that, we looked to set the tone for the SCAC tournament. It is crunch time for us so it is absolutely imperative we start off on the right foot to ensure we get the results we want,” said junior and co-captain, Camryn Beall.

“The Centenary game really served as a wake up call for our team. No one wants to go into overtime, and so I think after the Centenary game we knew we had to come out strong and put away any chance of that happening again,” Meyer said.

The team certainly came out strong and sent a message, as they put up nine goals against Schreiner to secure their advancement to the semifinals.

“The win last weekend was great. There’s always something relieving about getting to play at home. We truly have a home field advantage with the support we get and all of the help behind the scenes to make these wins happen. One of the best ways our team knows how to show our gratitude for getting to play is by scoring goals and we were able to make that happen which is all you can really ask for,” said sophomore forward, Molly Sheridan.

Last season, the women’s team lost in the SCAC Finals to Southwestern University during penalty kicks. They were given a bid and ultimately advanced to the sweet sixteen of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament, but the sting of last year’s SCAC Finals loss is still on their minds as they’ve prepared for the tournament this year.

“We have honestly been preparing for the SCAC tournament since we got to campus in the fall. But in the past few weeks especially, we have been focusing on each individual game as making us better for tournament play. After last year, our team is ready to have another chance to compete,” said Sheridan.

Beall elaborated on the motivation from the past but also commented that the situation this year is very different without the NCAA tournament.

“The team’s energy is awesome. I think it’s the perfect mix between searching for redemption from last year but also seeing this as an entirely different situation. We definitely aren’t dwelling on last year or putting a vocal emphasis on it at all, but there is a little extra weight put on our shoulders to take back the SCAC championship title,” Beall said. “With no NCAA tournament it really allows us to focus on SCAC and put everything we have into it. Usually, we see SCAC as a way to get into the NCAA tournament, but this year it’s all we have so there’s all that same excitement but geared totally towards the conference tournament.”

The team will face TLU in Seguin for the semifinals. While no outside fans are allowed, fans can check the women’s soccer schedule/results section on the Trinity website to get a link for the live stream.

The energy is high as the women’s team seeks to reclaim their title.

“Looking forward to this next weekend, we are all ready and hoping for both of those games. The team as a whole is all on the same page and we are all eager to finish this season strong. Like I said before, the need to bring home the SCAC title will be used as motivation,” said Sheridan.