Women's Soccer Looks Deep
(Houghton,
N.Y.)—
One
word keeps coming up every time Head Coach Dave Lewis talks about his
2008 team: deep. “We’re deep in just about every position,” Lewis says,
“I’ve got four or five players who can play each spot effectively.”
A look at the roster confirms Lewis’ evaluation:
there are 30 uniformed players and three more players who will
practice with the squad—all of which creates some problems for
Lewis. “It will be difficult determining who starts and who
travels with the team,” he acknowledges; then he can’t help but
smile and add, “That’s a good problem to have.”
Not that there won’t be challenges. The team
lost six seniors, including Rebecca Smith, a first-team All-NAIA
Region IX member. “She brought a vision to the team,” Lewis
says, “She never lost sight of the fact that we could make it to
the national tournament. Even after we were beaten badly by Ohio
Dominican early in the season, she still was saying ‘We’re going
to make it to the nationals,’ and she played that way.”
That kind of leadership is valuable for any
team, and this year’s Highlanders should have experience and
stability from its eight returning starters, as well as from
several valuable players back from injury. Rebecca Buszka
(Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) returns for her senior year after
missing most of 2007 with a knee injury; Casey Lawton
(Springville, NY/Springville) is back as a player-coach and
Bethany Kowalczyk (Waterford, PA/Fort LaBoeuf High School)—the
three-time Player of the Year in Region IX (2004, 2005 and
2006)—is working her way back from knee surgery, and looks
strong.
Kowalczyk will join returning 2007 Player of the
Year, senior Hannah Swift (Perrysburg, NY/Fredonia High School),
up top. Swift scored 19 goals in as many games last year and
also had six assists for the Highlanders. Look for sophomores
Kaylin Bull (Weare, NH/John Stark Regional) (two goals, three
assists) and Amy-Kaye Mitchell (Allegany, NY/Allegany-Limestone)
(six goals and two assists) to push for time as well, along with
freshmen KJ Vandzura (Minotola, NJ/Buena Regional).
The midfield will get stronger, as women compete
for playing time and move from other positions in search of it.
Expect to see sophomores Carolynn Tomlinson (Victor,
NY/Homeschool) and All-Region IX second teamer Lauren Haggerty
(Warren, NJ/Watchung Hills Regional) as well as senior Mandy
Lewandowski (North East, PA/North East) spend significant time
in the midfield this year. They will see challenges from
freshman recruits Danielle Turner (Stanley, NY/Marcus Whitman),
Tatum Teevans (Bartlett, IL/Wheaton Academy) and Rachel Cross
(Hop Bottom, PA/Homeschool).
As many as four seniors—Rebecca Dix
(LaGrangeville, NY/Houghton Academy), Kaylan Reynolds (Houghton,
NY/Houghton Academy), Buszka and Lawton—could start on defense,
but expect four freshman, including Keeler Topping (Pittsford,
NY/Pittsford-Mendon) and Samantha Choma (Webster, NY/Our Lady of
Mercy), to vie for those spots as well.
Two freshmen will compete for the goalkeeper’s
position after the graduation of Lauren Foster, and early on it
looks like Erin Asquith (Arcade, NY/Pioneer Central) has the
inside track over Alexa Thayer (Syracuse, NY/Faith Heritage
Christian School). “We’re not going to miss a beat by bringing
[Asquith] into the net,” says Lewis, “At 5’11” she has the
physical stature of a collegiate goalkeeper.”
With just 16 players returning from last year’s
roster, the Highlanders might seem thin, but half of those
returning were starters, and the others saw significant playing
time. Lewis thinks the team will become very strong—and deep—if
the incoming freshmen can play at the level that they are
expected to.
“The new players need to recognize that they can
come in and play, and not feel that they have to wait a year or
two,” Lewis says, “The biggest challenge is to get them out of a
high-school mentality. If you compare a ninth grader to a senior
in high school, there’s quite a difference. But compare an
18-year old to a 22-year-old in college, and there’s not that
great of a difference—maybe some experience.”
What does Lewis think? “They can play at that
level.” They’ll need to realize it fast, though. Just a few days
after the team starts practice they scrimmage SUNY Binghamton
and less than a week after that they open their season on the
road against Madonna University. “We go into everything right
away,” Lewis says, noting that the team will have two scrimmages
and three games before classes even start.
After an early-season schedule that includes
two national tournament teams from 2007 (Cornerstone and SUNY
Canton), the Highlanders will face a re-shuffled American
Mideast Conference schedule that now includes all the teams in
the conference, not just those from one division as was the case
last year.
At the end of the season, the AMC’s winner will
earn an automatic bye into national tournament play, and the
next several teams will compete for a second berth. What are
Lewis’ expectations? “I don’t want to put too much pressure on
them,” he says, pauses, then adds, “but if there’s a team that
has the ingredients to get to the national final four, this is
the team.”
In other words, expect them to go deep.
