Waynesburg University Athletics Waynesburg University women’s soccer enter the home stretch of the regular season with two regular season matches remaining before the conference tournament begins. As for their most recent performances, the Yellow Jackets are coming off a two-match stretch that saw a shoutout and tie with two conference opponents.
On Wednesday, Oct. 16, the lady Jackets traveled to Chatham where they shut out the Cougars 3-0 to bump their record to 7-4-2. Waverly Lorne, a sophomore defender on the women’s soccer team, spoke to her excitement on the win, as well as what was expected of the team in this effort.
“It felt great to get a win against Chatham. The whole team knew we needed to get three points, and we were set on doing that from the beginning,” Lorne said, while continuing on how she expects the team to continue this trend. “We intend to practice hard and be productive. We will just keeping working hard for each other.”
Regarding the win, head coach, George DeAugustino elaborated on what their focus was heading into the match, and how their prior performance sparked some extra motivation for the team.
“ The main focus was to play the right way and be us. We needed to be detail oriented in our game, make sure we were well organized defensively while also, being dynamic and opportunistic in the attacking end of the field,” DeAugustino said.
As for Saturday, Oct. 19, the women emerged with a 1-1 tie against Franciscan weekend over homecoming weekend, moving the Jackets to 7-4-3 on the season. Although the match did not produce a win, the efforts of one of their stalwarts this season allowed for them to escape a defeat.
Approaching the 80th minute of regulation, down 1-0 to the Barons, sophomore Julz Mohrbacher rebounded a blocked shot by the Franciscan goalkeeper and later assisted Reagan Mittendorf on a goal to tie the game. This, along with the continued growth and impact on the season has not escaped her head coach.
“Julz is peaking at the right time. She is an incredible player and her confidence is growing daily. We made some adjustments to our formation and playing style over the last couple of weeks,” DeAugustino said, while adding how the team is beginning to adjust to what Mohrbacher does so well to have her impact be best utilized. “We preach about setting up players for success. We have been playing more to Julz’s strengths as a team and she has been flourishing.”
With the playoff tournament approaching, DeAugustino is looking to keep the teams moral high with the grind of the season taking a tole on some.
“We are in a solid place mentally. We know the season is a grind we check in with players daily as a coaching staff. This group is motivated, they want to be a team that is battling in the post season,” DeAugustino said, while noting what it is he and his team are working for. “Playing meaningful soccer in late October and November is the best feeling. The love they all have for the game and each other is showing through right now.”
As mentioned, the women’s soccer team has two matches remaining before the PAC Tournament Quarterfinal begins on Nov. 2. With Saturday, Oct. 26 being the team’s senior day against Geneva at 1 p.m., and their regular season concluding on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at Grove City