Women's soccer ready to open season Thursday at home

The Eastern Florida State College women's soccer team will kick off the new season Thursday evening at Titan Soccer Complex.

The Titans, who come into the season No. 4 in the NJCAA Division I preseason poll, will host Southwestern Illinois who is receiving votes in the poll at 6 p.m. in the season opener.

"I think we look good, we are coming off a good performance against Florida Southern, scored goals and defended well so I think we are where we want to be heading into the first game," Eastern Florida State College co-head coach Scott Carswell said. "We just need to concentrate on what we have been working on in practice, speed of play, pressing the ball and working on our set plays."

Southwestern Illinois is coming off a 16-win season and return their top two scorers in Jalyn Richardson and Addison Hanusek who combined for 31 goals and 25 assists last season.

The Titans are coming off their seventh straight NJCAA Division I National Championship Tournament appearance and return 10 players who helped the team make it to the national tournament semifinals last season. Among the returners is All-American Morgan Miller.

Eastern Florida State College has a four-game win streak against the Blue Storm including a 2-0 win in the home opener last season.

Admission to women's soccer games at Titan Soccer Complex is free. Check out the schedule here.