Soul center Rob Mackin says holding your serve in the Arena League is most important.

One of the signs that a team is well coached is how it acts when times are tough.

Soul coach Mike Hohensee preached unity before the season was even underway.

He knew a team that was basically starting over was more likely to struggle after two years off and taking the field with a revamped offense.

Philadelphia’s entry in the equally revamped Arena Football League won its opener; then went on to drop five consecutive games, four by the smallest of margins.

“You know what? That’s Arena football right there,” center Rob McMackin said after the Soul lost to the Tampa Bay Storm on a walk-off field goal on its lone home game at the Wells Fargo Center. “It could have gone either way. They could have missed that kick. The biggest thing for us is to regroup and get back out next week. This is a long season. The loss hurts but we’ve got to get back out there and get a ‘W’ next week.”

The Soul lost another heartbreaker to San Jose, 68-61 on the road before finally finding the winner’s circle with a 78-62 win over the Iowa Barnstormers, incredibly on the road once again.

One of the biggest statistics battles is indoor football’s version of “holding serve.” With the defensive restrictions of the AFL, teams are able to march up and down the field, scoring on most possessions.

The ability to produce even just a handful of stops can mean the difference between success and failure.

“It’s the biggest thing,” said McMackin, who played his college ball at Towson. “Especially when we get the ball first, obviously you want to be up by one possession when you come out after the half because they’re getting the ball first. We’re a young team and we’re learning. We need to learn how to finish our games…play four quarters.”

The Soul (2-5) will be back in front of a friendly crowd for just the second time in its first eight games this Friday (7:05 p.m.) when it takes on the Jacksonville Sharks (7-1) at the Wells Fargo Center.

If the Soul have any playoff aspirations, they will need to continue finishing games. The Sharks are riding a six-game winning streak. A win by the Soul would produce the first positive streak this season.

As a head coach, Hohensee led the Chicago Rush to the Arena Bowl title in 2006. Recently he talked about how that team overcame a losing streak not unlike the one his Soul team endured.

“I know when things are dismal like this you can come back from it,” Hohensee said. “This is not a time to give up in any way.”