Lupita Frias / Thresher
9/13/22 11:36 PM
The Rice football team finished off the non-conference play with great success. That is, last season’s national champions, Florida State, blew him out in front of his home crowd in a solid 5-0 loss. The game marked the end of the team’s non-conference matches, ending with a 2-6 record and his three-game losing streak. However, head coach Brian Lee stressed that their expectations haven’t changed since the beginning of the season.
“[Our expectations are] It’s like them preseason,” said Lee. “It feels like the first game of the season because it’s a weird year with the whole team being put in order.
Lee, who will appear Sunday against a Seminole line-up that includes international team players from Jamaica and Nigeria, introduced a formation not seen before this season. Leaving three defenders behind, he added two defensive midfielders and dropped a striker to create a line of four midfielders, leaving senior forward Madison Kent as the only woman at the top. However, the formation gap was quickly exploited by the aggressive FSU team. Rarely. FSU’s first goal was finally scored in the 20th minute after an aggressive build-up play left a gap in the Owls defense. A quick pass to the Seminoles forward led to a close shot that hit the right post and bounced back into goal.
While attacking chances stalled for some of the first half, the Seminoles continued to pull away in the Owls’ midfield and came close to a second goal. After a short water break the owls were able to get two shots on goal. One was from goalkeeper Vera his Kilgore’s far free kick from his kick and the other from his kick from graduate forward Grace his Collins. The FSU keeper who launched a quick counterattack. After gaining the ball near the Owls’ corner and capitalizing on a defensive error, the Seminole winger brought it back to the center of the box and the midfielder blew the ball into the top right corner of the goal, putting FSU to his 2-0 lead. raised. According to junior defender Jaden Roberts, the Owls’ halftime deficit was more the result of mistakes than tactics.
“I thought we had everything tactically in place in the first half,” Roberts said.[We] I just made a silly mistake in the back and was just unlucky.
But while the first half was seen, the second half proved to be even worse for the owls. The Seminoles failed to find the net in the first half of the first half, but Rice, who struggled to control possession and hold onto the ball, ran around his team. After nearly 20 minutes of his skill his move and build-up, FSU set the ball for his kick free just outside the Owls’ box. Two Seminoles were positioned behind the ball, and after the first faked a shot, the second Seminole fired to the left of a diving Kilgore. Less than a minute later, FSU took a shot that was deflected off Kilgore and back into the center of the box. A stunned Kilgore could not react fast enough to stop the lone Seminoles from slamming the ball into the net, awarding the fourth goal. Their last chance came in the 70th minute after a quick turn by FSU’s striker sent her past the Owls’ backline, giving her space to raise FSU’s five.
After the game, Kent said he thought the offense shot good shots outside of the conference, but the results weren’t there.
“I think we created some good chances. [but] I think we were a little unlucky,” said Kent. “Unfortunately we hit the crossbar and the post a lot but we created some really great chances so our luck turned around and we used that in the meeting to play really good attacking. I hope you can.
Heading into the first conference game of the season against the University of Texas at San Antonio, Kent said he is using a disappointing preseason to improve his game.
“I hope we learn from our mistakes, keep working hard and play as a team,” said Kent. “I think we have a really talented group this year. We have used this preseason to learn how to work together.As long as we continue to do that, we will do great things in the conference.”
The Owls will begin conference play with the University of Texas at San Antonio on Wednesday, September 14 at 7:00 PM.
