Coming off losses to Ohio Wesleyan University and Capital University, 7-0 and 8-0 respectively, the Waynesburg University men’s soccer team will look to bounce back against the Muskingum University Muskies Wednesday, Sept. 12.

This will be the Yellow Jackets’ fifth game of the year as they come in with a 1-3-0 record.

Despite the lopsided losses, sophomore defender Steven Haines saw this past weekend as an opportunity for Waynesburg to see where it stands against two of the better teams in DIII, as Ohio Wesleyan is ranked 25th in the country and Capital 22nd.

“They are two really good programs…and we kind of went in as, ‘let’s see where we are and what we can improve on,’” Haines said.

Haines said the Yellow Jackets feel they can compete in the upcoming season. With five more games before Presidents’ Athletic Conference play starts, the team will look to fine tune the minor details in order to get back on track and compete for the PAC tournament.

Muskingum (1-3) is coming off a 2-0 loss to another PAC opponent in Bethany. Head coach Brad Heethuis sees the upcoming game against the Ohio Athletic Conference opponent as an opportunity to bounce back heading into the middle part of the team’s season.

“The goal is always to win the game and get better from it,” said Heethuis.

While Waynesburg will need to get goals on the board in the upcoming games, Heethuis is putting emphasis on the team’s defensive efforts after giving up 18 goals over the past three games.

“I want to see guys go out and compete, score some goals,” said Heethuis. “But at the end of the day, defensively I want us to be sound, we have not been as sound defensively. The number one focus is team defense and keeping them off the board.”

Waynesburg is looking to be at full strength as well, as they have been dealing with injuries, including one to freshman starting forward Lane Chaney.

“We have Lane Chaney who started the year for us has been out with an ankle injury and we have a few other bodies that are dinged up,” said Heethuis.

Despite their record, Haines said that the Jackets are in high spirits.

“Coming off of two crushing defeats, all of the guys are ready to get out there and get going in a positive way,” said Haines. “We need to refocus and play the way we know how to play.”

Heethuis said the team doesn’t have a set starting 11 as of now. The Yellow Jackets have just four returning seniors and a large class of eight freshman.

“We have five non-conference games left, and although we had tough weekend last week, I think these next five games will be great for us,” said Coach Heethuis. “It will give us a barometer of where we are at and where we need to be for conference play.”

Looking forward to the schedule after the Muskingum game, the Yellow Jackets will go to Mount Aloysius to face the 3-1-1 Mounties Sept. 15.