Just two years ago the Binghamton University women’s soccer team won only three of its 19 total games. Now the team is coming off an eight-win season and hoping to rise into contention for America East conference prominence. With a noticeably young roster and nearly twice as many road games as home games, the task will not be easy for the Bearcats.
BU head coach Sarah McClellan is confident that her young squad is ready to be a competitor in the America East, as well as on a national stage. One difference between this year and last year is the difficulty of the schedule.
“The schedule is definitely turned up a notch this season,” McClellan said. “Thankfully, we feel very confident with the improvements we’ve made as a team with our returners as well as our new players, that we feel we can make all of these games competitive games.”
The Bearcats will play 10 of its 16 regular season games on the road, including two Ivy League opponents in Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania. The first home game for Binghamton will be against Syracuse University on Sunday, Sept. 6.
“We have quite a few games on the road,” McClellan said, “So we’d like to develop ourselves into very professional business-type players on the road, grinding out road games and being road warriors. [For] the few games that we do have at home, one of them being the Syracuse home opener, we would like to show good, high-quality soccer and performance.”
This year’s roster features a large recruiting class of 13 freshmen and a strong returning core of eight sophomore contributors. There are only five seniors and three juniors on the roster.
“We’re very young,” McClellan admitted. “Half the team is new players. Our returners have certainly improved and have come in prepared; our newcomers are going to be contributors to the program right away. It will definitely add another dimension to our team.”
Despite the young roster, the Bearcats return its two leading scorers in sophomore Dani Raske and senior Amanda Casares. Raske tallied a team-high seven goals and 19 total points. Casares tied with Raske for the team lead in assists with five.
Despite being a sophomore, McClellan expects Raske to step up into a leadership role on the field.
“I expect her to improve her maturity and improve her game,” she said. “I expect her to try and push our [other] players in training.”
The captains this year are Casares and senior Nicole Montoya, who started 13 games for the Bearcats last year. The team also returns senior Jen McEachron, who played every minute in goal last season for the Bearcats and recorded a 1.25 goals against average. The Bearcats also have junior goalkeeper Erin Iman, who started in goal for the team in 2007 and sat out last season with a shoulder injury. The third goalkeeper on the roster is sophomore Lindsay DeLap, who redshirted her freshman season.
Defensively, the Bearcats return several veterans to anchor the unit. Raske and Montoya will help secure the back line. Junior Stefani Knopick, a conference All-Rookie selection in 2007, tallied five points last season from the back position. Sophomore Jennifer Abbate started 16 games last season as a wing back. Senior Erica Goldberg will return after appearing in 17 games last season.
The young talent is abundant in this year’s recruiting class. Freshmen Alyssa Staubitz, Meghan Campbell, Amanda Rittmeier and Maureen DeAngeles could see significant time at the back position throughout the season.
The midfield is led by Casares, a second-team conference all-star last season. Sophomores Mary DeWitte and Taylor Kucharski each saw significant time in their freshman season. DeWitte tallied two goals and Kucharski notched two assists. Redshirt freshman Brittany Walsh, who sat out last season due to injury, will see playing time at center midfield this year. The freshmen midfielders on the roster include Taylor McCavanagh, Emily Pape and Nicole Borner.
The forward position has had a tumultuous couple of years, as the Bearcats have sometimes struggled there in seasons past. McClellan has recruited plenty of new talent at the position for this year. “Many of the [freshmen] are forwards, and we were lacking in the forward department last year,” she said. “I think they’ll be adding a lot of speed, a lot of athleticism and a high work ethic.”
Local recruit Jamie Holliday was a first-team Class A all-state selection at her high school. Joining her are freshmen Candice Rowland, Carly Kirschner, Kerry Sullivan, Mollie Bold and Lisa Campbell, who all could see ample playing time in McClellan’s rotation.
Returning forwards include senior Emily Cirillo as well as sophomore AnnMarie Rizzi, who scored two goals in eight games for the Bearcats. Sarah Furminger is also on the roster, but will sit out the 2009 season after transferring from Broome Community College. Furminger led her team to the NJCAA national title as a first-team NJCAA All-American.
The America East conference will be very competitive again this year. Binghamton was selected to finish fifth in the AE preseason coaches’ poll after advancing to the conference semifinals for the fourth time in five years. Boston University was chosen to win its third consecutive conference title. Stony Brook was chosen to finish second and Hartford selected to come in third.
Last season the Bearcats compiled a 3-5 conference record and an 8-9-1 record, a far cry from its 3-12-4 performance just one year prior. According to McClellan, the team is already in great position to compete against the conference’s best teams and is well-equipped to face some of the other foes on the schedule, which includes opponents in five other conferences.
“The preseason has gone very well,” she said. “All of the girls, both the newcomers as well as our returners, came back focused and ready to compete the whole time. We do feel we are well-prepared and have quality players and a lot of [skill] at every position to push for some positive results in every game that we play.”