Lady Bruins continue working during layoff

University School of Jackson’s girls’ soccer team gets to enjoy or endure something this week soccer teams don’t often encounter – a full week off.

“We had two games scheduled for this week,” said Lady Bruins head coach Paul Conway. “But Sacred Heart was one of them, and that game had to be cancelled, and Chester County was set for later this week, and they had to cancel that one too.”

The Sacred Heart of Jesus game was canceled when the high school’s administration announced the school was closing late in the summer.

When count the fact that USJ didn’t play late last week because of weather and won’t play again until next Tuesday, the Lady Bruins technically got two weeks off without a game.

So did Conway schedule a lot of downtime for the players to relax and celebrate their 7-3 record so far?

“That never crossed my mind,” Conway said laughing. “But what’s even better is that if I had suggested it, I don’t think the athletes would’ve wanted to do that.

“But we have done some different things. We did a fitness test [Monday, Sept. 16] to see how everyone is doing halfway through the season because our season really is a sprint where there aren’t a lot of chances to take a breather.”

Conway said the plan was to also bring in USJ Strength and Conditioning Coach Nick Stamper to work with the girls.

“We’re getting workouts in every day, but sometimes it’s good just to have a different voice getting you through a workout,” Conway said. “Plus Nick knows a few different things to do to make things fun and interesting and break up the monotony of a soccer season.”

But the break does come at a time when the Lady Bruins are preparing for the end of the regular season with the postseason coming up on the horizon.

The Lady Bruins are 3-0 in league play so far with wins over Tipton-Rosemark, Jackson Christian and Fayette Academy.

Their three losses are all to larger schools including the season-opener against Houston.

“Houston is a talented team that gave it to us on the chin,” Conway said. “But it’s OK because we have a big freshman class that got a chance right from the start to see what other programs look like that are among the best in the state, which is where we want to be.”

The other two losses were to Page from Middle Tennessee and McCracken County in Kentucky – both in a tournament in Gatlinburg. They were set to play Collierville last week, but that was the game that was canceled when the remnants of Hurricane Francine dropped a lot of rain on West Tennessee last week.

The most thrilling win the Lady Bruins have had so far came against Hutchison. The Lady Bruins were down 5-2 at halftime but fought their way back and scored a couple of late goals to come way with a 6-5 win.

“I was really proud of the resolve our girls showed that night because they could’ve easily packed it up and called it a night early, but they didn’t,” Conway said. “Not only did they keep fighting, but they found a way to win. That says a lot about them.”

The Lady Bruins have three games remaining on the schedule before the regular season ends on Sept. 30 against St. Mary’s Episcopal, Trinity Christian and Dyersburg.

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news