Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Head coach Charles "Chugger" Adair and Virginia Tech women's soccer team recently wrapped up the spring competitive season and will conclude team activities this Saturday when they take part in the 2018 Roanoke Great Strides walk, which raising awareness and support for people with Cystic Fibrosis and their families.
The Hokies are coming off a 7-6-5 fall, the seventh consecutive winning season under Adair, but they look to get back to being NCAA tournament team. The spring season is a time for players to garner experience and develop on the field, as well as enhance their knowledge of the game. It is also a time for the coaching staff to dabble in various new formations and to see which players can be counted upon for the upcoming season.
"It was a good learning experience for our group," Adair said. "We're trying to develop the team in the offseason. We played four or five different formations, putting the kids in different situations, maybe some different environments, and just trying to allow them to think about the game and tactically kind of understand it a little bit in the flow of the game. That was important for us."
The spring also served as an opportunity for those younger players who did not receive much playing time this past fall, or those who may have been limited throughout the season, to gather experience and get ready for the chance to compete this fall.
"We got to learn about some of the kids that maybe didn't get enough time, maybe some younger kids that are trying to develop and grow," Adair said. "We learned a little about them and what they brought to game situations."
Going into the offseason, an important goal for the team was to get healthy, and the Hokies accomplished that over the spring. For example, freshmen Olivia Odle and Kara Henderson came back after both of them suffered injuries during their senior seasons of high school, which caused them to miss the 2017 season.
"We didn't have Kara Henderson or Olivia Odle, two freshmen that got hurt their senior years of high school, so we didn't have them available," Adair said. "Kara just got back in the past two weeks, coming off that Achilles, and I think she played 10-15 minutes the first weekend and 30 the second. Olivia got back to playing from the start, but is still transitioning in. She did fairly well and just needs to get back into the 90 minutes of higher-level game shape.
"We really had some good growth there [with both players] and they showed some good soccer knowledge, and did a good job, especially after being out for a year."
This spring, one point of emphasis that Adair and the team worked on was creating scoring opportunities, as last year's leading scorer, Alani Johnson, graduates in a couple of weeks. Her departure, however, gave an opportunity for some Hokies to step up and show their abilities.
"Offensively, we didn't take as many chances, for sure, as we wanted to last fall, so we were working a little bit on that," Adair said. "We're trying to see who's going to step up and be consistent in front of the goal and create chances. Coming in, we've got three or four different personalities that can help our front line, which we're looking forward to having."
This has also been weird spring for the Hokies in one respect, with goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn and defender Alia Abu El Hawa both being in and out because of commitments with their respective national teams.
McGlynn is one of the members of the U.S. U-20 Women's National Team that has been preparing for the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup being held in France on Aug. 5-24. Abu El Hawa just returned from her time with Jordan's National Team, as that team attempted to become the first women's Middle Eastern team to participate in the World Cup. Unfortunately, the Jordanians fell just short of qualifying.
The experiences that both McGlynn and Abu El Hawa gained in their international play may be different, but the hopes are that each of them took away from their experiences to add another level to their play in the fall. The world-class competition that McGlynn will face is not too far off from some of the top players in the ACC, while Abu El Hawa was able to dabble in the midfield, which gave her an added perspective, as she normally plays the defender role for the Hokies.
"They probably had two different experiences when you look at it," Adair said. "Mandy worked her way in and is probably the No. 1 in the U-20 group. Who knows what's going to happen, but her ability to grow, lead and probably establish herself is just going to help her as a person and bring that back and lead and help us work through the ACC schedule. We're going to be put under some pressure with playing some good teams, so she's going to help us as she comes back through that.
"Alia's was a little bit different – she was in a new environment. The opportunity was a special one for her to be a part of, and it was the first time any Middle Eastern women's team had the opportunity to qualify for the World Cup. It brought another aspect to the game because I think we get stuck in our own bubble here of what we have and understanding the opportunities that other players may not have."
Overall, Adair liked what he saw from the Hokies this spring, and he hopes the work that took place translates into yet another successful fall.
"We've been happy with the spring," he said. "We've been happy with the growth and development of the girls that have been working hard in the weight room, as well as on the field. They put their time in, and the key for us now is just them translating that, the work, and keeping that level and pushing that level while they're gone for the next two or three months. Come back in Aug. 1 wanting them to be healthy, ready to roll, motivated, and eager to continue the growth of the program and to make a run at the ACC and NCAA tournament like it's going to be one of our goals."
Again, this Saturday, the soccer team will participate in the annual walk that helps the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation by raising awareness and support for people with CF and their families. The cause is very close to the program as former player Murielle Tiernan has had to cope with a mild case of cystic fibrosis since she was a baby. Because of their efforts in 2016, the team was recognized by the Virginia Chapter of the CF Foundation as the Outstanding Great Strides Partner of the year. For more information and to help the team reach its fundraising goal, CLICK HERE.