With both the men’s and women’s soccer seasons officially underway, there is plenty of optimism among players. The two teams each have their own agenda, however, a common theme is learning how to handle their personnel. While the women’s squad is returning a solid core of players, the men’s team has brought in a large new group that will need to step up.
Men’s coach Jon Lowery said his team’s main focus right now is to bring everyone together. 
“We brought in 17 new players and our roster grew because of that,” Lowery said. “A lot of (our preparation) has been the connecting of the dots and making sure everyone understands our tactics.”
As one of four seniors on the roster, forward Andrew Rorick will be one of the players expected to lead the way.
“The graduating seniors will definitely be missed on the field,” Rorick said. “But our coaches brought in a large class of freshmen and transfer players that have already been making a positive impact on the team.”
The men’s team performed well in the first week of the season, including a 3-2 win against the Milwaukee School of Engineering. The Tommies will host Lake Forest College on Friday, followed by a trip to Dubuque, Iowa on Sunday to face No. 2-ranked Loras College.
“We are taking it a day at a time,” Lowery said. “Today is an opportunity for us to get better and tomorrow will follow that. We are looking forward to it.”
Women’s soccer returns five seniors
The women’s soccer team will return five seniors, including defender Katie Steuer, midfielder Nicole Lenz, defender Kelsie Sargent, forward Taylor Sabrowski and forward Morgan McConachie. As senior captain, Sabrowski will be leading the charge on a team that is looking to take multiple steps forward this year. 
“I think it’s good to have upperclassman leadership to show the underclassmen how to adapt and what the work rate should be like,” Sabrowski said. “We didn’t do as well in the MIAC as we wanted to last year. This year hopefully we can prove them wrong.”
Women’s assistant coach Kit Weaver said the team’s main obstacle this year is to stay healthy.
“The MIAC is a tough conference. We just need to take it one game at a time and learn from each game,” Weaver said. “We have already come a long way since our first day, and we are excited to continue to learn as a team.”
The women’s team will travel to Seattle this weekend for two games against non-conference opponents, the University of Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran University.
“We face two great opponents and are looking for two good results,” Weaver said. “This is a great opportunity to grow as a team both on and off the field.”
Andrew Frentz can be reached at fren2218@stthomas.edu.