soccerfanatic
Active member
Since I posted my profile on Eves yesterday, I thought I would continue with the defense today. Much of the success Maren had last year was supplemented by the great defensive combination of senior Jill Christofferson and freshman Karissa Henage. ISU will be bolstered by having Henage back with a year of experience under her belt.
Karissa Henage
Henage may be the most under-rated player on the team. Defenders never get much attention anyway, and if they play smart, you don’t get to see the spectacular saves that come from a defender trying to recover from being out of position. Henage played last season with a level of maturity uncommon for freshmen.
There are not very many stats available for defenders. Henage played as a back-up defensive wing for the first six games of the year and was only averaging about 30 minutes per game. In the 7th game, Coach made her a starter and moved her to center back, and Henage played out the rest of the season without ever leaving the field. The most telling statistic is that ISU was giving up one goal every 66 minutes before the move, and only one goal every 233 minutes with Henage in the middle. Goalkeepers get the credit for shutouts and defensive power, but after the sixth game of last season, opponents took six fewer shots per game and Maren Eves earned two fewer saves per game. The defensive highlight of the year for Henage came in the ISU tournament against Air Force when Maren Eves went down in an injury. Coach kept Eves in the game, and Henage and Jill Christofferson saw to it that for the last sixty minutes of the game, Eves hardly ever had to touch the ball. Henage earned a spot on the All Tournament team for her performance.
Despite being a central defender, Henage also earned her mark on the offensive end of the field. As a defender, Henage earned an honorable mention for Big-Sky offensive player of the week. She scored two header goals on the season: one in the final minutes of Gonzaga game to give ISU the tie and one as the opening goal in a rout of Southern Utah. Her two goals on the year tie her (with Kilee Quigley) for second place among returning scorers.
Karissa Henage
Henage may be the most under-rated player on the team. Defenders never get much attention anyway, and if they play smart, you don’t get to see the spectacular saves that come from a defender trying to recover from being out of position. Henage played last season with a level of maturity uncommon for freshmen.
There are not very many stats available for defenders. Henage played as a back-up defensive wing for the first six games of the year and was only averaging about 30 minutes per game. In the 7th game, Coach made her a starter and moved her to center back, and Henage played out the rest of the season without ever leaving the field. The most telling statistic is that ISU was giving up one goal every 66 minutes before the move, and only one goal every 233 minutes with Henage in the middle. Goalkeepers get the credit for shutouts and defensive power, but after the sixth game of last season, opponents took six fewer shots per game and Maren Eves earned two fewer saves per game. The defensive highlight of the year for Henage came in the ISU tournament against Air Force when Maren Eves went down in an injury. Coach kept Eves in the game, and Henage and Jill Christofferson saw to it that for the last sixty minutes of the game, Eves hardly ever had to touch the ball. Henage earned a spot on the All Tournament team for her performance.
Despite being a central defender, Henage also earned her mark on the offensive end of the field. As a defender, Henage earned an honorable mention for Big-Sky offensive player of the week. She scored two header goals on the season: one in the final minutes of Gonzaga game to give ISU the tie and one as the opening goal in a rout of Southern Utah. Her two goals on the year tie her (with Kilee Quigley) for second place among returning scorers.