Jacob Hunt, Campus Carrier staff writer

Women’s soccer is back with a team perfectly divided by experience. With 16 new members and 16 returning, the Vikings are trying to find their stride once again by integrating the new recruits with the rest of the players.

The team has decided to take the high number of first year players as a best of both worlds scenario. Having only one graduating senior this year, head coach Lorenzo Canalis hopes this season will be both a building year and an opportunity to win the conference.

“I want to win, but I want to win with style,” Canalis said. “Competitively, I really want to win the conference.”

Canalis’s aspirations are already progressing as the Vikings have been in preparation for the last month. Along with routine practice, other provisions are being made to get the players adjusted to the new group dynamic. One example includes the bonding the team has been doing both on and off the field in an effort to unite the 32 athletes into one team.

“Even though our team is quite large, we are like one big family and I believe that has contributed to our successful start of the season,” sophomore center back Madison Cherry said.

The team has also been making some changes in player usage during the games. Now four games in, the players have been discovering throughout the matches who works well together for future lineups. According to Canalis, the team added five freshman players to the starting lineup on the Sept. 5 match against Piedmont, a strategy that would allow the Vikings to hold off any scoring until winning with a penalty kick later that game.

Despite the team’s current success, however, there is still room for improvement. Canalis said that there was confusion for the midfield in one game because of a backline composed mostly of freshmen. The players had not yet played many minutes with each other and were therefore not used to each other’s playing styles.

Canalis also believes the offense could improve in some areas.

“In the offense we have a lot of speed, but we aren’t using it to our advantage yet,” Canalis said.

The women’s soccer team is currently 3-1 for the season with game 5 coming up this Wednesday against Huntingdon College at 7 p.m.