soccerfanatic
Active member
There are only sixteen days left until the first ISU exhibition soccer game against Northern Nazarene. That game may not present much of a challenge, but it will give us our first peek at how this team will work together. Two days later (on the 22nd), ISU will have its first real challenge against Utah State. Utah State beat ISU in double overtime last year with Coach Gibson in the stands. I expect ISU will be fired up for the game this year.
To help me build my enthusiasm for the next season, I thought I try to kick out a profile for each of the returning players every day or so. If anyone else would like to comment on these players, I would appreciate any insight they might have. I am not sure if people would prefer to see a separate thread for each player or just to post them all in this one thread. If you have a preference, let me know.
To launch these profiles, I thought I would start with Kilee Quigley. If the fans elected an MVP, it is likely the honor would go to Quigley. She seemed like the natural choice to begin this countdown to a Bengal championship season.
Kilee Quigley
Quigley will be one of the team captains this year, and Coach Gibson could not have a stronger team leader on the field. Quigley has already been conducting team workouts, practices and scrimmages to get the team ready by the time NCAA rules allow Coach Gibson to start to work with her players on August 6th.
Quigley is rock solid on the field. If she could be characterized in one word, it would be “tenacious.” She claims her ground on the field and never backs down in any challenge. Whether she is defending or attacking, she is constantly moving and fighting for position. Because Coach Gibson relies so heavily upon Quigley to anchor her team, Quigley only hit the bench twice last year: once in the last minutes of a blowout game against Southern Utah to give the backups more playing time, and once in the late minutes of a double overtime game played in 110-degree August heat in a Las Vegas pre-season game after Quigley had left her whole soul on the field.
Most coaches want their strongest player at mid-field, and I imagine Gibson will keep Quigley there again this year. Quigley started last season at defense, but it soon became obvious that she was needed on the attack as well. Within the first few games, Coach moved her up to mid-field and never looked back.
Quigley is not timid about pulling the trigger… and last year the team was desperately in need of offense. When the opportunity presented itself, Quigley would let fly, and over half of those shots were on frame. Quigley has taken more than 70 shots over the past two years.
Quigley has not only earned the respect of teammates and the fans, but the opposing coaches recognize her talent as well. They have voted her the honor of First-Team All Conference two years in a row under Coach Gibson. I look for her to three-peat this year, and if she does so, she would be only the second player in ISU history to achieve that feat. (The first was Jennifer Loo, a teammate of Quigley in her first two years.) Look for Quigley to have her best season this year.
To help me build my enthusiasm for the next season, I thought I try to kick out a profile for each of the returning players every day or so. If anyone else would like to comment on these players, I would appreciate any insight they might have. I am not sure if people would prefer to see a separate thread for each player or just to post them all in this one thread. If you have a preference, let me know.
To launch these profiles, I thought I would start with Kilee Quigley. If the fans elected an MVP, it is likely the honor would go to Quigley. She seemed like the natural choice to begin this countdown to a Bengal championship season.
Kilee Quigley
Quigley will be one of the team captains this year, and Coach Gibson could not have a stronger team leader on the field. Quigley has already been conducting team workouts, practices and scrimmages to get the team ready by the time NCAA rules allow Coach Gibson to start to work with her players on August 6th.
Quigley is rock solid on the field. If she could be characterized in one word, it would be “tenacious.” She claims her ground on the field and never backs down in any challenge. Whether she is defending or attacking, she is constantly moving and fighting for position. Because Coach Gibson relies so heavily upon Quigley to anchor her team, Quigley only hit the bench twice last year: once in the last minutes of a blowout game against Southern Utah to give the backups more playing time, and once in the late minutes of a double overtime game played in 110-degree August heat in a Las Vegas pre-season game after Quigley had left her whole soul on the field.
Most coaches want their strongest player at mid-field, and I imagine Gibson will keep Quigley there again this year. Quigley started last season at defense, but it soon became obvious that she was needed on the attack as well. Within the first few games, Coach moved her up to mid-field and never looked back.
Quigley is not timid about pulling the trigger… and last year the team was desperately in need of offense. When the opportunity presented itself, Quigley would let fly, and over half of those shots were on frame. Quigley has taken more than 70 shots over the past two years.
Quigley has not only earned the respect of teammates and the fans, but the opposing coaches recognize her talent as well. They have voted her the honor of First-Team All Conference two years in a row under Coach Gibson. I look for her to three-peat this year, and if she does so, she would be only the second player in ISU history to achieve that feat. (The first was Jennifer Loo, a teammate of Quigley in her first two years.) Look for Quigley to have her best season this year.
