Colorado State University Athletics
Rams Ready For Mountain West Battles
9/21/2022 4:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer
Team looks to get offense rebooted on opening road trip
The slate is clean for everyone. The real deal for Colorado State begins now. Meanwhile, the rest of the Mountain West starts the real deal, too.
The Rams will kick off conference play looking for a spot in the postseason tournament at season's end. It all starts tomorrow with a trip to San Diego in what will be the third of four straight road games for CSU.
"It's a clean slate and just looking forward to having that opportunity to start fresh," midfielder Katy Coffin said. "We've been working on attacking pieces constantly and I think that will help us in conference play."
The Rams need some sort of attacking play heading into this weekend's set of games as they've been held scoreless in their past two games. After starting the season with multiple goal scorers, they've dried out up front.
Coach Keeley Hagen had already found some success up front with seven different goal scorers on the year, already more than the five total scorers from last year. This weekend's games provide a chance to steer chances back into the net.
"What we're showing in film is little things; after every game we say let's just get better and clean some things up," Hagen said. "Naturally, not hearing things for the first time will help them, but at the same time we want to continue to see growth."
There have been growing pains when it comes to the advancement the Rams have seen so far. They've had some physical battles in the past two games in the Midwest despite not finding the back of the net. In the middle of a four-game road trip right before conference play begins, it's not the best spot in the world.
The execution is still missing for Hagen's group, but their heads are still held up high. While the goal scorers have gone missing for the time being, the hope is they'll be back with the start of conference play and everyone being at the same level. The Rams also think they have something up their sleeve to help their cause.
"We've really bonded over the last few days on this trip, and we'll go out and show everybody what we can do," midfielder Mia Massey said. "We just got super close with the inside jokes that we all make; I think that's really going to show our bond in the next couple of games."
Massey is one of four freshmen who will be on the team for Mountain West play for the first time. While Massey is the only freshman to play so far this season for the Rams, she knows she still has a lot to learn.
Coffin had also mentioned before everybody on the team is still learning. While Coffin is in her first stint with the Rams after transferring from Kansas State last fall, she understands she is a person who can be looked up to.
"I'm still growing and learning every day," Coffin said. "As a sophomore, I think it's something where I'm still learning and growing but I hope people like Mia [Massey] can look up and say, 'oh, Katy's pushing through, that means I can do that too.' I take pride in that."
On a team filled with upperclassmen, the Rams will look to those who have the experience already. Their wit and exposure to the Mountain West will take the Rams a long way if they get back on the rails.
While it's Hagen's second attempt at getting into the Mountain West Championship field in November, it's all about getting better still. Her entire team has put non-conference play behind them and are all eyes forward towards getting the job done, from freshmen up to seniors.
"Everyone is capable of winning on any given day," Hagen said. "It's how are we getting better, seeing that growth is our key -- focus on us. If we continue to work on our process well and not make big mistakes, we obviously hope everything goes our way."
The high hopes of Colorado State kick off conference play Thursday night against the Aztecs of San Diego State at 8 p.m. and look to get started on the right foot before finally wrapping up their road trip against New Mexico on Sunday at noon.
