Women's Soccer Practice Report #1

MARS HILL, N.C. – The Mars Hill women's soccer team has been hard at work preparing for the 2015 season as a group of talented freshmen join a solid returning group.

"We have 10 new players who we've been working on integrating with our returning players," head coach Ken Miller said. "I'm pleased with the way that our freshman have been grasping concepts and learning our system."

Miller's impression of the incoming class is shared by his veteran players.

"Our practices have been going really well," senior forward Rachel Blong said. "Our freshman have worked hard and have come into practice with a good mindset. We're pushing each other in practice and I feel like we're much improved over last season.

The Lions have played in a pair of preseason scrimmages thus far, although Saturday's scrimmage against Montreat was shortened due to lightning. Mars Hill played a full 90 minutes against North Greenville on Wednesday evening, giving Miller a better assessment of his squad.

"I feel like we did fairly well (Wednesday)," Miller stated. "I was pleased with our ability to connect passes and find open spaces. Going forward we need to do a better job of penetrating the opposing defense and creating more scoring chances.

Mars Hill will travel to Belmont Abbey on Saturday afternoon for their final preseason scrimmage. The Crusaders are the defending Conference Carolinas tournament champions and have qualified for the NCAA tournament in each of the past two seasons.

"We're treating Belmont Abbey as a game situation," Blong said. "Playing them is a good way to see how we match up heading into SAC contests."

Mars Hill opens the 2015 season next Thursday against King, welcoming the Tornado to Meares Stadium and Ammons Family Athletic Center for a 6:30 p.m. match.