Lyndsey Moreland
By Jessica Wetzler
VCU Men’s Soccer junior center midfielder Lyndsey Moreland began his freshman year at VCU by being named to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team. After an injury during his sophomore year, Moreland is ready to get back into the game.
In your words, how would you compare this season to previous seasons?
This season has been kinda tough. I think going in we were super positive. We definitely got a really good group but I think the results definitely haven’t gone our way. We definitely haven’t been as efficient as we would have wanted to, but i’m still optimistic with the group we have. Still staying pretty positive.
How do you prepare yourself for each game?
Me personally, i’m really injury prone so it’s a really long process. I have to eat the right things, two or three days before I have to get a lot of sleep, I have to go into the trainer’s office and do stretching and lots of different little exercises to keep my body ready, but that’s just me.
What is your goal for this season?
Personally, to stay as healthy as possible and try to get back to starting regularly because I just got surgery in December so I just want to start playing again.
What is your goal for the team?
We want to win the A10 tournament for this year and then we want to get in the NCAA tournament.
With you being a junior and new freshman coming in, how do you see yourself in a leadership position? How are you leading the freshman?
I know a lot of the freshman struggle because you know, your first year you’re always accustomed to being the best player on your team at one time and it’s a cultural shock. A lot of them just need encouragement and just need to know that we have all been through it so just keep your head up and grind through. I mean, you have five years here for a reason. Your first year you should really learn and take all you can from a lot of the older guys.
Why did you decide to play soccer?
My parents are from the Caribbean so soccer is all we know. When it came to sports, my dad was like this is what we are going to put him in and i’m basically too small to play any other sports so that was it, that was the only option.
Why did you decide to play soccer for VCU?
Assistant Coach Teach coached me as a youth player basically since I was 14 so in my head, as soon as I had Coach Teach as a coach, it wasn’t really a choice. There wasn’t anywhere else I wanted to go, this was the spot I wanted to be. I played club soccer in Richmond so this was a good spot.
Are there any records you hope to beat personally this season?
Nope. I mean like I said, staying healthy, playing well. It’s kinda hard to try and break records because you kinda lose sight of what the smaller goals are.
Do you think they are certain things that need to be worked on, including yourself and the team?
I think there are always things to work on. I think we need to work on being more positive as a group. Personally, definitely need to work on being more positive and being a little less hard on myself. I mean, there are always things you can work on technically in the game and that’s what the coaching staff is for so we leave a lot of stuff for them.
What has been your biggest challenges so far between right now and from the first time on the team?
I think coming in mentally it was definitely really difficult for me. Not playing a lot and after that, after I got through a lot of mental stuff, and injuries, I mean i’ve been out on and off for about the last year so that’s been really hard for me. Right now that’s the biggest struggle is trying to get my body ready, physically just trying to be back where I was.
The Black and Gold defeated Coastal Carolina in overtime, 1-0. The Rams will travel to UNC Wilmington on Sept. 30 for their next game before returning home on Oct. 4 to compete against Davidson.