The Wildcats travel to San Antonio Friday night to close out the regular season portion of their schedule against Incarnate Word
Having already clinched a spot in the Southland Conference tournament the beginning of next month, senior captain Chloe Fifer said the team will be looking to clean up some things heading into the postseason.
“Hopefully we can go down to Incarnate Word, just fine tune some things and focus, and just get some good momentum going into the tournament,” Fifer said.
Fifer said the 2-0 win over Stephen F. Austin, which was the first victory over the Lumberjacks since joining Div. 1, was a huge confidence builder. But the team has to stay locked in at the task ahead of them and keep improving.
“I think one thing is keeping up our defensive efforts. We’ve kind of struggled on that this year and I think we want to continue forward and just work on getting finishes off the ball and off the crosses and everything,” Fifer said.
ACU will take on a UIW team that sits near the bottom of the conference at 1-8-1. The Wildcats are 3-0-1 against the Cardinals since 2013, but head coach Casey Wilson said at this point it’s less about the wins and losses and more about setting yourself up well heading into the tournament.
“Just being able to build some momentum and start playing well going into the tournament,” Wilson said. “What happens in the tournament is a team that’s playing well and healthy is maybe the best way to get into it as opposed to being banged up or having a lack of momentum. So we’re just looking to have that momentum and build it another week.”
The team cannot improve its seeding in the tournament at this point and will most likely take on SFA in a rematch of last weekend in the first round. However, a win not only gives them that momentum and confidence moving forward, but also keeps Sam Houston State from jumping them in the standings.
In fact, if the Wildcats tie and the Bearkats defeat the Lumberjacks, SHSU would move into sixth place and ACU could then play McNeese State in the first round.
