As students return to campus for another semester, Troy University’s soccer team is at work preparing for the 2019 season. The Trojans, fresh off a 5-14-1 (4-6 Sun Belt) season, will open with a pair of exhibitiongames during the first week of classes.
Troy will host in-state rivals Samford and North Alabama on August 16 and 18, respectively.
The Trojans fell on an early six game skid during the 2018 campaign, lagging behind in the conference standings. Troy won two games between four and three game losing streaks, but then closed out the year with two consecutive wins to sneak into the conference tournament as the No. 8 seed. Troy then matched up
Sophomore forward Katherine Howe drives through a Chattanooga de- fender during a matchup last season. Howe is part of Troy’s 11 player sophomore class heading into the 2019 campaign.
against conference front-runner Texas State in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Foley. The Trojans fell in a tight 1-0 game to be eliminated and sent home.
into my senior season is to really try and enjoy each moment I have left with the team and soak it all in.”
The Trojans will open conference play on Sept. 20, traveling to Boone, North Carolina to take on Appala- chian State. Troy will face out-of-conference, in-state rivals UAB, Jacksonville State and Auburn in consec- utive games during the month of September.
The last winning season for Troy soccer was in 2015 when the squad went 14-4-2. The Trojans have high hopes for the fall of 2019, setting their sights on nothing short of a deep tournament run.
The Trojans welcome 10 freshmen to the squad,alongside five members of the senior class. Kate Lorenz, a forward from Normal, Illinois, reflected onthis year’s team and her time at Troy as she starts her senior season.
“Our overall goal is to win the conference tourna- ment,” said Lorenz. “But I think the team’s mentality is to take it one game at a time and focus on the little things every day that will help us achieve that goal.”
“In three short months, my soccer career will be over,” said Lorenz. “So
my mindset heading
The season opening exhibition is set to begin at 7 p.m. at the Troy Soccer Complex. Regular season play kicks off on Aug. 23 as Troy will host Jackson State in the Trojan Classic.
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