Column: Dare to be different
Jessie Morgan had an exciting opening weekend of conference play for the Eastern women’s soccer team, as she was able to find the back of the net for the first time in her young Panther career.
“Being an offensive player, scoring is really important, so at least for me there was always that pressure to put one away,” Morgan said. “Now that I have got that first one. I felt a great sense of accomplishment for myself because scoring the goal really meant a lot to me.”
Morgan’s goal came in the 85th minute in the form of an insurance goal putting the Panthers ahead 2-0 over the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. The goal cemented the Panthers’ first road victory in nine games.
“That win was really important for us, so after scoring the insurance goal with only a few minutes left I think we all knew we had won that game,” Morgan said.
Morgan has noticed that she is playing more minutes lately.
Eastern head coach Summer Perala has spoke about the importance of players being able to step up and contribute to help the team win, recently.
Morgan said getting her first goal past her will give her confidence going into the rest of the season.
“Getting that first goal makes the pressure a lot less because I have more confidence in myself,” Morgan said. “I did it once and
I need to concentrate on doing it again.”
Morgan and the Panthers will continue the conference portion of their schedule this weekend, as they will face the Southern Illinois-Edwardsville Cougars and the Southeast Missouri Redhawks.
The Panthers are currently 1-2-1 on their six-game road trip and will look for Sunday’s road win to propel them through the last two games of their road trip.
“I feel this is a really important road trip for us this weekend,” Morgan said. “We have the momentum and the confidence to win these games going into the weekend.”
Morgan said Perala have stressed to the team that the most important game is the next one, fueling the mindset that players need to take everything one game at a time.
“So right now, Friday’s game is the most important game for our team,” Morgan said. “We have a lot of good competition ahead of us, but with the hard work and concentration we are putting into practice it should allow us to be successful throughout the rest of the season.”
Jordan Pottorff can be reached at 581-7944 or
