After dropping only two nonconference games, the South Dakota State women’s soccer team will start fresh with the Summit League season and in-state rival University of South Dakota.
The Jacks started their year 7-2 losing matches to Utah State and Creighton. Most of the Summit League teams, including the Coyotes, begin their Summit League season Thursday, but SDSU gets those extra few days to prepare which head coach Brock Thompson says helps out.
“Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday of this week it’s really development time and we’re training to be a better version of ourselves,” Thompson said, “and then we’ll start on Thursday and Friday started gearing ourselves towards the match on Sunday.”
The Jackrabbits are in a stretch of two games in two weeks allowing for some breathing room after a whirlwind of a nonconference schedule. That portion concluded last week when the Jacks fell to Creighton 0-1 in Omaha for their second loss.
The difference in the game came in the final minute of the first half. Creighton’s Abigail Santana sent a pass into the box to Shani Sirota who then headed the ball past SDSU’s Jocelyn Tanner to give them the advantage.
“At the end of the day, my message to the team was the Creighton game felt a lot like the Grand Canyon game,” Thompson said, “we found a goal in that game to win it and they found the goal against us to beat us there.”
The Jacks now shift their focus to a team they know very well in South Dakota. With only nine schools in the conference now for women’s soccer after Western Illinois left, each team plays the other eight once a year. This can make for familiar matchups, both in the regular season and in the Summit Championships.
“Well, we know everyone really well and they know us really well.” said Tanner, the fifth-year keeper for the Jacks. “They want to beat us; we know we’re one of the top teams and we’ve had a target on our back.”
USD will matchup with St. Thomas Thursday at 4 p.m. before hosting SDSU in Vermillion at First Bank & Trust Soccer Complex Sunday at 1 p.m. Both of those matches will be streamed on the Summit League Network and Midco Sports Plus.
