For over a month the women’s soccer team has prepared for and played against teams in more of an effort to learn about themselves than about their opponents.

According to the team’s head coach, Steve Ballard, he has used early non-conference games to learn who will lock up positions on the team more than just looking for the victory.

Obviously, the result of the game is important to the coach and his players as well, but they also focus on getting as many players as they can an opportunity and also find out who plays the best at what position.

“I know that this is a difficult thing for some players to move around and give up some time, but that is a true test of a team,” Ballard said. “There are so many girls who deserve their chance that we have to move people around and play a large number of girls.”

But, at the same time, Ballard is watching in preparation for Ohio Valley Conference play and the players who impress him will lock up their spot in the rotation by the time this weekend roles around.

“We will pare down the rotation from about 25 to about 15 regular players,” Ballard said. “Because of that I’m really happy about how the team has responded because it’s a tough process to go through.

“When members of a team sacrifice

So far this season the Panthers have responded to the opportunity to play with four different players scoring goals. Two of the goal scorers were expected team leaders coming into the season, the other two are younger players who have helped themselves early on during their career to boost their role on the team.

Besides sophomore Trisha Walter and senior Audra Frericks the two younger players to score goals have been freshmen Michelle Steinhaus and sophomore Laura Keating.

Both Steinhaus and Keating have scored two goals, both goals for Keating came in one.

But that process Ballard went through to find the fresh talent on his team is something he hopes will pay off as the team introduces the newer players to the other OVC teams.

“It is crucial for us, as a team, to figure out which players will step up and make the most impact against the other conference teams,” Ballard said. “What matters most though, what is most crucial to winning and losing, is that we get to and stay in a team concept.”

The Panthers now look forward to playing Austin Peay on Friday and Tennessee Tech on Saturday.

Both games will be on the road and are games that the players feel will be tough tests early on.

“They are tough teams that will provide a tough test for us,” Frericks said. “We have to go into those places and concentrate because they will provide some tough competition.”