Talawanda High School’s new turf field is proving to be a challenge for the girls soccer team as it adjusts to a faster game and a different style of play.

The team entered this week with a 2-7-2 overall record, 0-3-0 in Southwest Ohio Conference. The Braves suffered a 4-1 loss at home to SWOC foe Little Miami last Saturday. Talawanda avoided the shutout when senior Rachel Ball found the net with 5:09 remaining.

Last season THS finished second behind Ross, the undefeated Fort Ancient Valley Conference West Division champion. The Braves closed at 4-1-2 in the league, 9-3-3 overall.

“It’s disappointing for the seniors,” coach Steve Thompson said. “So many injuries, just adjusting to the turf, never having what we thought would be our starting lineup players together, constantly juggling people around. It’s just been a season when we’ve run into bad times. We’re struggling to score.”

Talawanda has failed to score in three games. The most goals the Braves have scored in a game is three, which they have done twice, both times in wins, 3-1 at West Carrollton and 3-2 over Madison.

“The girls have tried hard,” Thompson said “They’re great kids. They bought into a changed style of play for the turf. They have practiced hard. They get better every day. It’s a big adjustment. The field is wider. It’s a faster game. Absolutely everything changes. We have made adjustments to our style of play for the future. We will be on this turf for a long time.”

The adjustment to the new turf field has been difficult, Thompson said, because the surface is faster and the field is larger, more like standard soccer field dimensions. Most high school fields are more narrow because they are really football fields.

“More high schools have started going to turf,” he said, “so we are prepared for the change.”

Playing on a turf field makes it more of a possession game, the coach said.

“The ball rolls quicker and the game is much faster,” he said. “You have to play a ball at your feet quicker.”

Playing on grass, he said, allows a player to stop to ball with a foot and the ball will stay there, slowed by the grass, but on turf the ball is traveling faster and the adjustment to control the ball must be done more quickly or it will be gone.

Ball agreed with her coach’s assessment, but said she prefers playing on turf.

“I like the turf,” she said. “It goes faster and cleaner. You actually play soccer. It’s easier to control the ball. I like turf a lot. It’s much, much faster. Girls play a slower game of soccer than the guys. Turf makes you play faster, the way colleges play.”

Ball said her teammates are adjusting to the difference between their old field and the new turf,, although that adjustment is not showing up in the win column.

Thompson said the injuries have played a role in their season.

“We did not plan for injuries,” he said. “At one time, we had six players out. Now, we have two outstanding seniors sitting on the bench.”

They are Ali Bond and Kaitlyn Bretz, both probably out for the rest of the regular season, but he said he is hopeful that Bond can return in time for the postseason tournament.

Ball has played in eight games and has three goals, ranking her in a tie for 23rd in the SWOC standings with six points. Also involved in that tie is senior Michaela Groom with six points, also on three goals.

The highest ranked player for the Braves is junior Ali Yeager with three goals and two assists in nine games for eight points and a tie for 13th in the scoring standings. Junior Hannah Vollmer has seven points on the strength of three goals and an assist.