On Friday, Aug. 23, 2013, I interviewed two players on the Millikin Women’s Soccer team. Senior goalkeeper, Kyline Humm and team Captain, Chelsea Smalley spoke with me about the upcoming 2013 CCIW season.

When discussing the preseason, Smalley and Humm remarked at how it was “going great” and how the women “have a great team put together this year and the energy, even during [the] morning sessions, is awesome.” When I spoke with Captain Smalley, she noted how everyone is “definitely tired,” but everyone is bringing 100% to each practice. The Captain was also happy to note that the team is truly bonding because of all the time spent together.

I then asked about the first year players specifically, and how they are adjusting to their new schedules. Humm spoke about First Week, and how the freshman athletes will feel “like it is the longest week ever,” but for the most part feels the freshman athletes are adjusting smoothly. Smalley commented on the difficulty of adjusting to a new schedule and how efficiently and successfully the freshman athletes were doing so.

I then asked about any improvements Humm and Smalley have seen thus far. Compared to last year, Humm sees much more energy, enthusiasm and determination from her teammates. Humm noted how the group is “totally different than last year” as far as what each member of the team brings to the field. Smalley noticed a stronger connection forming amongst her team. She discussed how they were “learning each other’s style of play.”

Although it is a young team, Smalley has also noticed a great deal of talent from her teammates. As a team, Humm and Smalley stated that several expectations were set for the upcoming season. Smalley hopes that each and every player will give it their all on the field and “finish on goal better when [there are] opportunities.”

The team is also pushing to win every home game this season. Smalley stated there were “a lot of close games last year, but [the team] fell short in some of [the] CCIW games.” Humm and Smalley also commented on the academic expectations for the upcoming year. Last year the Women’s Soccer team had an average GPA of 3.31 and they are looking to boost that even higher. Both women find it important to be successful on and off the field.

To end our conversation, I asked Humm and Smalley what goals they had for themselves as well as their team. Humm is striving to “give it all [she] has during [her] senior year,” not only for herself, but for her team. Humm and Smalley hope to see their team through the conference tournament and place in the top four teams in the CCIW conference. Smalley feels that if the team continues to put in the work and effort she is seeing in the preseason practices, this dream goal has all the possibility to become a reality.