The offensive woes continued for the injury-depleted Lady Tigers soccer team in a 2-0 loss at home to Neosho. But coach Kevin Hauck says he sees signs of progress despite the continued scoring drought.
“I thought was a good step forward for us. We talked a lot on Monday about being more aggressive and trying to start our defense higher with pressure, hoping this will allow us to get more numbers into our attack,” Hauck says. “I felt like it worked well. We were aggressive winning a lot of 50/50 balls and putting good pressure on them all over the field.”
Maintaining possession has been a struggle for Republic without Emily Jordan and Madi Mitchell, both injured. But Republic improved in that area against Neosho, according to Hauck.
“I thought we connected passes well. We could have been better, but it was definitely in the right direction. We had some good chances to tie it up when it was 1-0, and even score late in the game when down 2-0. We just could not find the back of the net.”
The best scoring opportunity came on a shot by Anna Jones, who just missed a score when the Neosho keeper leaped to knock the ball over the crossbar.
Things won’t get easier when the Lady Tigers travel to Ozark Thursday. But Hauck says he still believes Republic can turn it around.
“If we can keep this pressure up, and keep being aggressive and getting chances to score, eventually we will break through. Hopefully when we do break through and get that goal, then more will just follow behind,” he says. “I hope to continue to see the progress move in the right direction. That will not only help us for late in the season this year, but for next year as well.”
