STORY BY EMILY LAMBIE

The Women’s Soccer team has started strong in preparing for the upcoming spring season.

Over winter break both the Men’s and Women’s Soccer teams travelled to Mexico and were given a chance to bond with their fellow teammates, while also getting the chance to practice outdoors.

Junior Alex Freeman was one of the athletes who experienced the trip.

“I just thought it was a great experience. I think it’s really cool that the NCAA is now looking at doing this with more teams and I think it’s really cool that we started that. How often does Drake get to say that they started something in the NCAA?” Freeman said.

The trip gave the team a leg up in preparing for the season.

Head coach Lindsey Horner is excited for the season ahead and what it will bring for the team.

“I’m looking forward to see how our team continues to grow in terms of pushing each other and leading from within. I think we are in a really good place right now, but were also at a critical point,” Horner said. “If we start too stagnant then it won’t go well for us in the fall, but I think we are seeing glimpses of a lot of people leading in a lot of different ways. If they push on after spring break and into the spring season then we will be in a really good place in the fall.”

Along with Freeman and Horner, sophomore Kayla Armstrong has goals and expectations for the season ahead and what she hopes the team will accomplish during the spring.

“A big goal for us is communication. It’s really hard to play soccer without hearing your teammates tell you if you have pressure or telling different directions on the field. Communication has been a huge struggle for us in the past, and that’s what we’re really aiming to work for,” Armstrong said.

As the weather gets warmer the team will get more practice time and will begin to really hone in on what needs to be done in order to prepare for both the spring and fall seasons.