After a long offseason of constant improvement and development the girls soccer program is showing promise as they are 1-1-1 in district play heading into Tuesday’s matchup with district leader Midlothian where head coach Jessica Woodrum expects the team to see some high defensive pressure.

“Our defense needs to remain focused the entire game to deny any counter attack scoring opportunities,” Woodrum said. “Our offense then needs to make our opportunities to score count to get a win against Midlothian.”

Duncanville is coming off of a triple overtime tie with district rival Cedar Hill last Friday.

“We dominated the game against Cedar Hill but we just couldn’t seem to score,” Woodrum said. “We have to get better at finishing games.”

Duncanville was down by two goals in the game against Cedar Hill with less than five minutes left in the game.

“We just lost our focus a few times as a team,” Woodrum said. “ We were the better team but just couldn’t seem to score goals to show it.”

Woodrum says she has instilled some confidence in the team as well as the need for them to work hard. She also says the team needs to remain focused on the task ahead of them.

“We have established team rituals and activities for practices and games that help us maximize focus before a game,” Woodrum said. “This is a very important part of our team being successful on the field is keeping a clear focus.”

The leadership on the team this year will be key if they are going to move past regular season. Woodrum says she needs players to step up and be examples to the younger players on the team.

“We have a great team mentally this year,” Woodrum said. “The girls now understand that we need to be our very best individually to be the best team we can be.”

This year’s team is made up of a mix from underclassmen and seniors. Woodrum believes this is a good mix to mold a young team into a winning combination.

“This team gets along very well and for girls’ athletic teams this will go a long way,” Woodrum said. “I am hoping all our training and care for each other as a team will show as we win more games this season.”