On a dreary afternoon an optimistic atmosphere surrounded practice, as the Gators women’s soccer team was determined to overcome the disappointing losses and finish the season with more wins than last season.

The Gators tallied a record of 12-8 last season and seemed destined to repeat their performance. So far this season the team has watched their chances dwindle with each loss.

“You have so many ladies playing hard. We go out and put the ball on the ground. I felt we let people down,’’ said Natalie Macias, fighting back tears after a defear to UC San Diego last weekend. “It hurts. Hurts bad.’’

“We are five minutes short of winning games. Other teams are five minutes better than we are because most of the time we can be tied up with five minutes on the clock, and then we seem to fall short and lose the game,’’ said teammate Ashley Relf.

Improvement on both sides of the ball was the lady Gators’ concern. They hope before the season ends that they can come together and play more aggressively both on offense and defense.

“Defensively we are improving, we were not strong in the beginning of the season and we worked hard in practice to learn from our mistakes, but if we want to make it through the season all eleven players have to be on the same page,’’ said Relf.

Injuries are partially to blame for the ladies struggles.

“Unfortunately this past weekend we lost Natalie and she plays her heart out every week. Her absence will hurt. Kristine Marbach is gone for the year, so we lost two key players,’’ said Kathryn Green.

“I’ve been playing with pain,’’ said Macias. “But no one cares about that and getting hurt is part of the game. I go out there each week with my teammates and fight hard with them, but even though I’m injured I will still be out there giving my teammates support because I know they would do it for me.’’

After going winless at home against Cal State L.A., San Bernardino and UC San Diego, the Gators were searching for answers from one another.

“Our problem is on offense. We seem to have problems finishing the game, but I believe we are going to turn this losing streak into wins and I think we are improving but we are taking baby steps,” said Relf.

Some of the players believe the reason they are losing most of the games because of lack of communication.

“If this team wants success we need to communicate more on the field and then I believe we can finish on top,’’ said Green.

After practice the ladies walked back to their locker room for a meeting with their team captain, Katie Klain. She told them which players needed to step up and lead the team to victory.

“All the rookies have risen to the occasion, and they have been playing with a lot of heart and effort and everyone else needs to step up their game, so we can all be on the same level of play in the hopes of winning more games down the road,’’ Klain said.

There’s no crying in coach Jack Hyde’s world, and no excuses either.

“That’s what great about all this, coach lets us be who we are,’’ said Maya Patrick. “He puts us in the position to make big plays. And he never accepts pity or self-doubt. We’ve bought into his system.’’

“He’s keeping us focused. It gets hard when you are losing. I know he’s as frustrated as we are, but coach has faith that we will win more games before the season ends,’’ said Relf.

After the team meeting, the ladies dressed quietly and quickly. Teammates felt that Klain’s message was straight to the point about coming together and winning more games.

“In my opinion, if we are going to have a good season, we have to put together more back–to-back wins,’’ said Patrick.