The Georgia Southern Women’s Soccer team (2-0-0) is back on the field after an upsetting 2013 season. However, the 2014 season is looking bright thus far.

After winning their exhibition game against The Citadel, the Eagles hit the road, beating Francis Marion 2-1 and UNC Wilmington 2-0.

Now, Ga. Southern travels to Auburn, Ala., to compete against Auburn (1-1-0) and Indiana (1-1-0) in the Auburn Soccer Classic. Although only two games have been played, the Eagles go into the weekend undefeated while the other teams each have one loss on their record.

These are two well-known schools from major conferences. This could come across as intimidating, so there are three things that need to be pointed out as Ga. Southern travels to Alabama this weekend.

KEEP AN EYE ON AUBURN’S BENCH

Auburn seems to have strong players coming off the bench. Freshman forward Kristen Dodson and redshirt senior midfielder Ashley Kotero both scored during their 2-1 win over Furman. The bench brings fresh feet into the game and can cause a surprising burst of energy late in the game. These players can often times be overlooked, but not paying attention to them may result in a loss for the team.

LAST YEAR’S SHUTOUT

Ga. Southern will be playing with a vengeance after last season’s shutout loss of 5-0 against Indiana. They could get some help from an Indiana squad featuring nine freshmen.This, however, is not something that the team needs to bank on since Indiana will also be showcasing six seniors for the 2014 season. However, the inexperience could help Ga. Southern come out with a win.

KEY TO WINNING

Be dominant from the start. Ga. Southern struggled last season by letting teams get ahead early on. Indiana scored three goals against the Eagles in the first 18 minutes last season. Ga. Southern must go into this weekend confident that they will dominate and then play like they have the first two games of this season. They have to take over each game from the beginning if they want to improve their play from last season.