Coming off a hard-fought loss to the 15^th ranked team in the nation, the FIU women’s soccer team was back out under the scalding south Florida sun looking to get better and make a run at a Sun Belt Conference championship.

 

“We’re coming together well,” said sophomore midfielder Kassandra Sorzano “The freshmen coming in are very talented and very solid players, so their complimenting the returning players very well.”

 

While they posses a ton of talent, the transition from the high school game to the college level is not and will not be easy for these skilled freshmen. “It’s a new experience,” said freshman April Perry “It’s completely different from high school and club.” Fellow freshman, Katrina Rose has had a similar experience in her first week of training. “Challenging,” said Rose about the new level of play. “It’s a lot more aggressive. There’s much more expected out of you.” 

 

For Sorzano, the first week has been everything she expected. However, that doesn’t mean it has been easy. “I knew how challenging it was going to be,” said Sorzano. “It’s been very demanding. Very challenging . We’ve been tested mentally as well as physically.”

 

The hard work during the first week showed when the Golden Panthers faced off against the Aggies of Texas A&M. Playing shorthanded, FIU gave the defending Big 12 regular season champions a very tough match. “It was fun,” said Sorzano about the exhibition match. “You get to see how you match up against a very good team.”

 

Perry and Rose agreed “It was very exciting,” said Perry, the former Broward County Player of the Year. “Nerve-racking, but very exciting.”

 

“I was happy,” said Rose “I was proud of everybody. We did pretty good for our first game being together.”

 

After a strong showing against one of the nation’s best squads, the players are optimistic about the upcoming campaign. “I have high expectations for the season,” said Sorzano. “Every year the expectations are going to get higher because every year we’re going to get better.”