After achieving their most successful run in program history in 2014, the Nicholls State Women’s Soccer Team aspires to win the Southland Conference this season. The Colonels defeated McNeese State in the first round of the playoffs Southland Conference Tournament last season.

“There’s no guarantee just because we won a game last year that we are going to do anything this year. We have to work just as hard, if not harder, to get to somewhere we’ve never been to do something we’ve never done before,” Dylan Harrison, head coach of the Colonels, said.

The team is scheduled to play Mississippi State University and Louisiana Tech University on the road. Harrison said that having a tough schedule would help them prepare for conference matchups. There are also several areas he wanted the team to work on during the offseason. He wanted the team to quicken the pace and work on defending set pieces.

“Set pieces win games. We dropped one or two games on set pieces,” Harrison said. “We dominated the game and lost to a set piece, which is heartbreaking.”

The corner margin was also in favor of the opponent last season, 68 to 83. He said the team was strong on free kicks but he wants them to improve in the air.

Harrison also said that having so many freshmen contribute last year will be important to the development of this team. He said team chemistry will play a big part in the upcoming season.

“Knowing that they already have 18 games under their belt is really going to set them apart. The depth that we have this year is like we’ve never seen before,” Harrison said.

There were at least 12 different players that scored during the 2014 season. Harrison believes that having more than one focal point will make them unpredictable and stop teams from shutting them down.

Midfielder Anna Gourges stressed the importance of winning, maintaining, possession and working on offense and defense.

“Even though my position is more attacking, I would like to be better defensively because we are still required to drop back and help out,” Gourges said. “We want everyone on the same page and connecting on the field.”

The team won their first post-season game in program history last season, but they still weren’t satisfied with the result. They are not just looking to win the conference this season; they aim to advance further into the postseason.

“We were hyped up because that was our first tournament win, but we wish we could have gone further,” said Hannah Savoie, midfielder.

The top goal scorer for the team last year was striker Spencer Valdespino and the top playmaker was midfielder Jess Coates.

Valdespino has not only broken several records for the program, but she featured in the 2014 All-Southland First Team and won the 2013 Southland Conference Player of the Year.

Coates led the team with seven assists, and she also was the second highest goal scorer on the team. Like Valdespino, she also featured in the 2014 All-Southland Conference Team.