The ETSU women’s soccer team has gone to a 4-4-2 playing system for the early part of the season in preparation for the upcoming Southern Conference schedule.
The 4-4-2 system consists of four defenders, four midfielders and two front runners. It will help the Lady Bucs control the ball as they move up the field.
“There are different ways to play it,” said head coach Heather Henson. “We’re still going to play our possession and work it out of the back.”
Henson the Lady Bucs will try to avoid the “kick-the-ball game” and possess the ball as they move up the field.
“We’ll be looking to penetrate, to go forward as quickly as possible,” she said.
The change was made for several factors, one of which was injuries to key players.
Sophomore Erin Lotzer has been nursing an ACL injury and senior Lena Summers will have to redshirt this season because she has not been able to get back to the form she is accustomed to playing at.
“We’re going to redshirt her (Summers) due to (the) overall strength in her leg,” Henson said. “(We want) to give her (time) to develop her entire leg and help her body comeback.
“She could help us (right now), but it wouldn’t be in the capacity she’s accustomed to or the program is accustomed to.”
The system change will also be beneficial to the Lady Bucs as a young soccer team that includes three sophomores and eight freshmen to go along with two seniors and three juniors.
“(We have) a young team,” Henson said. “That (system change) will give the team a chance to build on the college experience.”
The 4-4-2 system will not be set in stone, but will help them move up into another system like the 3-4-3 that they played last season according to Henson.
“As the season goes on and we get more accustomed to playing against teams made up of juniors and seniors, this system will allow us to push up into another system,” she said.
With the 4-4-2 system the two front runners have to have quickness, speed and the ability to hold onto and shield the ball from defenders. The Lady Bucs have that in seniors Kristin Redfern and Lisa Gallagher said Henson.
Henson is also pleased with the results that her team has had thus far and believes the team can get better as the goal ahead is making the conference tournament.
The conference schedule begins on Sept. 21 when the Lady Bucs host Georgia Southern and ETSU has been using its non-conference games to learn and prepare.
“I’m excited about our young team,” Henson said. “Leading up to conference play we’re learning through our mistakes and learning what works.”
The 4-4-2 and 3-4-3 systems are similar, said Henson, as the Lady Bucs stepped into it last weekend in a 6-0 victory over South Carolina State.
The difference between the 4-4-2 and the 3-4-3 system is the stopper, center back, on the defensive side steps forward into the midfield and one of the central mid-fielders steps into the attack.
“We worked on that, having the 4-4-2 defensively and pushing it up and to have (the) 3-4-3 on the attack side,” Henson said. “It’s kind of hand-in-hand and they (systems) are very interchangeable.
“We’re going to start our game defensively on a 4-4-2 and make sure we feel comfortable defensively, and when we go on the attack we can push our numbers.”
The Lady Bucs will continue to work up to their Southern Conference schedule as they next host non-conference opponent Birmingham Southern on Friday at 7 p.m. at Liberty Bell soccer field and will then face Middle Tennessee State on Sept. 16.

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