The Fresno State women̢۪s soccer team looks for its first win of the season this weekend in Irvine.
The ̢۪Dogs are 0-3 coming off a 0-2 loss to Oregon on Sunday.
After Sunday’s game, head coach Brian Zwaschka said, “We need to try and be more dangerous. We are playing too safe in goal scoring strategies.â€Â
Zwaschka was also concerned with the teams focus.
“The effort was the biggest problem and we didn’t focus on the game plan,â€Â he said.
UC Irvine, UC Riverside and Southern Utah are all scheduled to play in the tournament along with the Bulldogs.
When looking ahead to the tournament Zwaschka said, “We need to try not to venture too far from the basic training.â€Â
The team will not make special preparations for the tournament, but it will take it one game at a time, Zwaschka said.
The Bulldogs need to worry about the two teams they will be facing this weekend because both teams have a better record than the Bulldogs.
Friday night the ̢۪Dogs will take on UC Irvine at 7 p.m. A night game comes with both negatives and positives aspects. The negative would be playing under the lights, which the team might need time to adjust to, but the positive factor for a night game would be a much lower temperature.
The game may offer no relief for the Bulldogs from their losing streak. UC Irvine is 3-1 on the season and gets to play on its home turf.
After the loss to Oregon the team needs to look for ways to win, but senior forward Lauren West isn̢۪t giving up just yet.
“Mainly we need to relax when playing,â€Â West said. “We are very nervous when getting the ball.â€Â
A tournament right now may help West and possibly her other team members to get relaxed and score.
“Playing in a tournament doesn’t give you time to freak out about the game,â€Â West said.
It̢۪s not just nerves that are getting in the way of the ̢۪Dogs scoring. The team needs to get across midfield and get the ball into scoring position. Fresno State hasn̢۪t scored a goal this season, including exhibition games.
West and the other Bulldogs only have Saturday to think about the next game of the tournament.
After playing UC Irvine, the Bulldogs will face UC Riverside on Sunday at 10 a.m.
Sunday̢۪s game may be a better match for the ̢۪Dogs since UC Riverside is 1-2 this season, which is a closer record.
The Bulldogs will not face Southern Utah this weekend.