The men’s and women’s soccer teams had their first scrimmages of the new season this past week. The women faced off against Louisburg College and Anne Arundel Community College while the men played Louisburg and Wake Tech Community College. The coaches thought the scrimmages went well and are looking forward to the upcoming season. The women’s varsity soccer team started off this season with a victorious scrimmage against Louisburg on Monday, Aug. 23.

“In this first scrimmage we dominated the other team,” said Eric Lewis, head coach. Lewis added that the game was very intense. For those fans that understand soccer, there was a lot of midfield action.

The Aug. 26 game against Anne Arundel, while not victorious like the previous scrimmage, helped the team focus in on kinks that could be worked out in practice. The final score was 0-0, with both teams making three shots but no goals.

“It really exposed what we need to work on, but the defense is much stronger and faster this season,” Lewis said. Lewis added that if they can really bring it together on the field and get the chemistry of the team working, it will be a good season.

Two junior transfers to Guilford, Katie Oliver and Rachel Harman, agreed with Lewis, adding that once the communication starts happening they will really begin growing throughout the season.

“We need to build more chemistry in the team before we can perform,” said Oliver. “Once we do, we’ll be a much stronger team.”

The men’s Aug. 25 scrimmage against Louisburg ended in an exciting 2-2 draw, with all four goals scored in the second half. Ronnie Castellanos scored the first goal of the game with 17 minutes left in the second half to eager cheers from the crowd. Louisburg made a penalty kick for their second goal of the game with 12 minutes, which got the crowd into action.

“It was okay, we are still finding out who we are,” said Jeff Bateson; head coach. “Last year we lost to this group 6-1. It’s a similar team, we have a different team, so I feel pretty good.”

Sophomore Freddy Gomez is excited about the season, but wished they could have started with a win. “The last fifteen minutes were pretty intense,” he said.

In their second game, the men’s team beat Wake Tech 3-1 with an unexpected own goal by the Eagles to help the Quakers’ cause. Guilford did not play this team last year, so they did not know what to expect.

Both coaches feel hopeful about this soccer season and are focusing on pulling the team together.

“Biggest thing we have to focus on is team chemistry and team character,” said Bateson. “We have a lot of good people who understand that the results in the field will come naturally.