The Pirates open their Big East play at home for the first time against Providence on Wednesday Oct. 3.
After a 1-0 loss to Syracuse last Saturday, head coach Gerson Echeverry leads the Pirates into a game that he said will show much excitement.
"I think that they have some interesting players that could be very dangerous," Echeverry said. "(They) have done well in the Big East and in the program, just like we do. And it should be an entertaining match. We like our chances just like I assume they like theirs, but I think it will be a good game."
With a series record of 11-11-6, the Pirates will look to take the edge by notching a win in front of their home crowd. Echeverry said in order to win, the team cannot give away goals.
"I think what we need to do is stop giving up easy goals," Echeverry said. "That's been one of the things that's really hampered us, is giving up silly goals that other teams have not really had to earn. And if we cut down on that I think we give ourselves a better chance in any game.
According to Echeverry, the team plays better while being down.
"We have a tendency of playing better when we're down a goal," Echeverry said. "That's not a good trait to have. We have to try to minimize that and learn how to play not only when the score is tied, but also when we're up a goal or two."
Along with not letting in those "silly goals" Echeverry said he believes that for his team to be successful and secure a win against Providence, the whole team needs to play better.
Echeverry said that turning better defense in to more productive offense will provide his team with a more solid chance of winning.
"We need to improve on everything," Echeverry said. "We don't score enough goals, we don't create enough goals, and we have not been very creative on the offensive end and if you can't do that than your defense is going to be under constant pressure. So I think that's one of the key factors of why we have given up some of those goals."
Echeverry said that it is very important for the team to create chances in order to relieve their defense from being under duress.
"Until we can find a better way of getting involved on the attack and producing some better opportunities our defense is going to be under a lot of stress," Echeverry said. "We are capable of moving the ball around from time to time, we have a lot of guys that are comfortable on the ball. The only thing is on the offensive dirt is that we lack ideas."
According to Echeverry, there are many ways for his team to perform better in this upcoming match, he did however provide his support for his player's capability in being able to fix these issues and star winning conference matches.
"I have faith," Echeverry said. "And I have trust in these guys, in their ability. Whether the pressure sometimes can get to them that remains to be the issue. So we don't know, but it's not because they're not capable of doing it."
The Pirates have struggled recently scoring goals, only netting four in their last six games.
"The execution part of it is what we're lacking right now," Echeverry said. "But we are pretty young as a team and with the coaching change there's some hesitance and uncertainty on their part, and that can be part of it. But it's not because they're not capable of it."
Echeverry said one of the biggest ways he can help this team is to help them believe in themselves.
"We know what our guys are capable of," Echeverry said. "It's just a matter of them having that same belief in themselves and do it."
Dennis Chambers can be reached at Dennis.Chambers@ student.shu.edu
