soccerfanatic
Active member
Watching the World Cup has given me a bad case of “Soccer Fever” and I am looking forward to seeing the Bengals out on the pitch. With only about six weeks until the team returns to the practice field and about two months to the opening game, I thought it would be a great time to preview the upcoming year.
First, the bad news. Lauren Hough, one of the stand-out players who should have returned for a stellar senior year, has been lost to injury. Over the past two years, she has played through a great deal of back pain. Her back has now deteriorated to the point where she will not be able to play soccer anymore. Our heart goes out to her. We greatly appreciate and will miss the marvelous talent she has brought to the team, and our prayers go with her.
The team is also losing senior Kat Ford to injuries (again back problems,) and also four freshmen: Shauna Fleming, Shailee Smith, Amber Worthen, and Krisha Read. None of these will have a huge negative impact on the quality of the team as none spent much time on the field last year. I do not believe that there is a full 90 minutes of competition experience on the field for all five players together.
Of course, the loss of the seniors will be heavily felt. Annamarie Hofstetter has been a kingpin of this team for the past four years. Both Kacey Ball and Christina Beseris were huge contributors to the team through a great season last year. Plus, we had some unexpected help last year from Jana Davis-Boehler who was able to play in a few home games and the Big Sky tournament last year as a first year grad student. All four of these will be greatly missed. But the loss of seniors is expected and the Bengals had fewer seniors than most of the conference.
On the other hand, the Bengals played through last year without the help of either Taylor Powell or Benecia Brogan, both out for the season with injuries. It looks like both players should return to the field next season. There is also the remote possibility that we might get Ashley Askwig back next season.
As for the returning players, we have enough talent coming back to field a strong starting lineup. Last year, we could not have taken the field without throwing some freshmen into the mix. In our first game, we started two freshmen and all of our subs were freshmen. This year we have enough veterans with playing experience to start all veterans and still have a couple on the side line held in reserve.
Of our returning players with have two standout seniors with three solid years of playing experience. Karissa Henage-Fisher will anchor the defense. She is the only retuning Bengal to have earned first team all-conference honors, and she has done so for the past two years. She is the only Bengal to have played every minute of all 19 contests last year. Despite playing her entire career as a defender, she has the second most career goals, finding the back of the net five times on only 14 attempts over the past three years. Lauren Ryan will also return for her senior year. She is the leading scorer on the team with six career goals. She played a versatile role last season at both forward and midfield, and is a constant threat to opponents. She started every game last year and 16 of 19 games her sophomore season.
We have four players returning with two years of experience. Bailey Williams played every minute of every regular season game at keeper last year, and over half of the minutes at keeper her freshman year (despite having a bevy of four keepers available.) Although her goals against average and save percentage were off slightly last year, she is a solid keeper with the ability to make the key save when needed. Plus, it should be pointed out that she played through some tough injuries last season, and we should expect some great things out of Bailey if she can stay healthy this year. Megan Stainbrook is also returning after starting 17 of 18 games last season and 13 of 19 games her freshman year. Megan plays defensive wing, but is called on from time to time for her offense. Last year, playing some time at forward, she racked up two goals. Alex Hansen has played in 37 games as a forward. Although she has yet to score a goal, her flip throws add a great deal of excitement to the game and have helped her contribute three assists over the past two years. Although Taylor Powell did not play last year and will receive an extra year of eligibility, she has contributed three goals over her first two years as a forward. She is deceptively fast and would have been a huge contributor last season, had she been healthy.
As mentioned earlier, Benecia Brogan who sat out last year with an injury, should return to the playing field for her second year. Bee is a fast, versatile player, who played defense and offense her freshmen season and scored her first goal (a game winner) against Air Force, in just the second game of her career. In addition to Bee, there are six freshmen who return for their second year of play in a Bengal uniform. Leading this group is Ashley Jones. The Big Sky newcomer of the year, AJ scored five goals and racked up five assists over the year on her way to second-team all-conference honors as a freshman. Two other freshmen have multiple goals last year. Rachel Strawn scored twice and added four assists as a forward, and Laura Perez contributed two goals. Morgan Olsen earned honorable mention Big Sky honors her freshman season as she filled in as a central defender. She started in 17 of her 18 games last season in that position. Alishia Cairl and Michelle Burhle also return, each having some limited playing time during their freshmen season.
One of the most exciting aspects of next season is the incoming freshmen class. This is definitely the strongest recruiting class I have seen. Just as an example, last year out of ten freshmen, there were at most four that I believed had a legitimate chance of earning a starting position by the end of the season (and that was even with knowing that at least two starting positions had to be filled with freshmen.) This year, there are twelve incoming players, and I would see ten of them as having a legitimate chance of earning starting positions their first year as a Bengal. In fact, the talent in this class is so great as to allow a team of 11 freshmen to give the veterans a run for their money in head-to-head competition. I don’t think there are more than two or three returners who are completely secure in keeping their starting role, and even those will have to bring their “A” game to keep from being edged out by a newcomer. This kind of healthy competition should do wonders for inspiring the Bengals to reach new heights. Some of the players who have seemed complacent over the past years in holding onto their positions on the team will have to double their fitness programs and skill building drills to keep from being replaced by a new face.
It is hard at this point to identify which freshmen will step in to key roles on the team. Last season, I was surprised that Morgan Olsen became such a huge contributor on defense, and I expected Shauna Fleming and Krisha Read to contribute much more than they did. The high school to college transition is tough, and only those who walk into camp fit and ready to give 100% will succeed.
Donya Oliviera and Kiley Godfrey both have the ability to score and our veterans will have to really fight to keep them from taking the two forward positions. I expect Anna Pingree to take one of the midfield spots, and Tara Bice and Olivia Zabka to claim a couple of the defensive positions. Then you have Laura Benson, Allyson Stainbrook and Ashley May who will be real contenders for the remaining positions. And I would not count out Andrea Beseris or Randi Kendrick. Plus Carly Hutchings can challenge Bailey Williams at the keeper position. So, by the end of the season, I would not be surprised to see as many as six or seven freshmen starting and seeing ten or more having significant playing time. Not only does this mean the Bengals have a legitimate chance of recapturing the Big Sky, but it also gives us a tremendous foundation for the next four years. Expect to see ISU start to become a soccer powerhouse in the west.
The team starts out with two tough road games against Marquette (who spent a part of last season in the top 20 nationally) and Loyola – Chicago, who is always tough. The freshmen will only have about three weeks to get themselves game ready. But by the time we hit the heart of the season, we should see the Bengals recapture the Governor’s Cup and hopefully, take the Big Sky by storm. Look forward to a great season!
First, the bad news. Lauren Hough, one of the stand-out players who should have returned for a stellar senior year, has been lost to injury. Over the past two years, she has played through a great deal of back pain. Her back has now deteriorated to the point where she will not be able to play soccer anymore. Our heart goes out to her. We greatly appreciate and will miss the marvelous talent she has brought to the team, and our prayers go with her.
The team is also losing senior Kat Ford to injuries (again back problems,) and also four freshmen: Shauna Fleming, Shailee Smith, Amber Worthen, and Krisha Read. None of these will have a huge negative impact on the quality of the team as none spent much time on the field last year. I do not believe that there is a full 90 minutes of competition experience on the field for all five players together.
Of course, the loss of the seniors will be heavily felt. Annamarie Hofstetter has been a kingpin of this team for the past four years. Both Kacey Ball and Christina Beseris were huge contributors to the team through a great season last year. Plus, we had some unexpected help last year from Jana Davis-Boehler who was able to play in a few home games and the Big Sky tournament last year as a first year grad student. All four of these will be greatly missed. But the loss of seniors is expected and the Bengals had fewer seniors than most of the conference.
On the other hand, the Bengals played through last year without the help of either Taylor Powell or Benecia Brogan, both out for the season with injuries. It looks like both players should return to the field next season. There is also the remote possibility that we might get Ashley Askwig back next season.
As for the returning players, we have enough talent coming back to field a strong starting lineup. Last year, we could not have taken the field without throwing some freshmen into the mix. In our first game, we started two freshmen and all of our subs were freshmen. This year we have enough veterans with playing experience to start all veterans and still have a couple on the side line held in reserve.
Of our returning players with have two standout seniors with three solid years of playing experience. Karissa Henage-Fisher will anchor the defense. She is the only retuning Bengal to have earned first team all-conference honors, and she has done so for the past two years. She is the only Bengal to have played every minute of all 19 contests last year. Despite playing her entire career as a defender, she has the second most career goals, finding the back of the net five times on only 14 attempts over the past three years. Lauren Ryan will also return for her senior year. She is the leading scorer on the team with six career goals. She played a versatile role last season at both forward and midfield, and is a constant threat to opponents. She started every game last year and 16 of 19 games her sophomore season.
We have four players returning with two years of experience. Bailey Williams played every minute of every regular season game at keeper last year, and over half of the minutes at keeper her freshman year (despite having a bevy of four keepers available.) Although her goals against average and save percentage were off slightly last year, she is a solid keeper with the ability to make the key save when needed. Plus, it should be pointed out that she played through some tough injuries last season, and we should expect some great things out of Bailey if she can stay healthy this year. Megan Stainbrook is also returning after starting 17 of 18 games last season and 13 of 19 games her freshman year. Megan plays defensive wing, but is called on from time to time for her offense. Last year, playing some time at forward, she racked up two goals. Alex Hansen has played in 37 games as a forward. Although she has yet to score a goal, her flip throws add a great deal of excitement to the game and have helped her contribute three assists over the past two years. Although Taylor Powell did not play last year and will receive an extra year of eligibility, she has contributed three goals over her first two years as a forward. She is deceptively fast and would have been a huge contributor last season, had she been healthy.
As mentioned earlier, Benecia Brogan who sat out last year with an injury, should return to the playing field for her second year. Bee is a fast, versatile player, who played defense and offense her freshmen season and scored her first goal (a game winner) against Air Force, in just the second game of her career. In addition to Bee, there are six freshmen who return for their second year of play in a Bengal uniform. Leading this group is Ashley Jones. The Big Sky newcomer of the year, AJ scored five goals and racked up five assists over the year on her way to second-team all-conference honors as a freshman. Two other freshmen have multiple goals last year. Rachel Strawn scored twice and added four assists as a forward, and Laura Perez contributed two goals. Morgan Olsen earned honorable mention Big Sky honors her freshman season as she filled in as a central defender. She started in 17 of her 18 games last season in that position. Alishia Cairl and Michelle Burhle also return, each having some limited playing time during their freshmen season.
One of the most exciting aspects of next season is the incoming freshmen class. This is definitely the strongest recruiting class I have seen. Just as an example, last year out of ten freshmen, there were at most four that I believed had a legitimate chance of earning a starting position by the end of the season (and that was even with knowing that at least two starting positions had to be filled with freshmen.) This year, there are twelve incoming players, and I would see ten of them as having a legitimate chance of earning starting positions their first year as a Bengal. In fact, the talent in this class is so great as to allow a team of 11 freshmen to give the veterans a run for their money in head-to-head competition. I don’t think there are more than two or three returners who are completely secure in keeping their starting role, and even those will have to bring their “A” game to keep from being edged out by a newcomer. This kind of healthy competition should do wonders for inspiring the Bengals to reach new heights. Some of the players who have seemed complacent over the past years in holding onto their positions on the team will have to double their fitness programs and skill building drills to keep from being replaced by a new face.
It is hard at this point to identify which freshmen will step in to key roles on the team. Last season, I was surprised that Morgan Olsen became such a huge contributor on defense, and I expected Shauna Fleming and Krisha Read to contribute much more than they did. The high school to college transition is tough, and only those who walk into camp fit and ready to give 100% will succeed.
Donya Oliviera and Kiley Godfrey both have the ability to score and our veterans will have to really fight to keep them from taking the two forward positions. I expect Anna Pingree to take one of the midfield spots, and Tara Bice and Olivia Zabka to claim a couple of the defensive positions. Then you have Laura Benson, Allyson Stainbrook and Ashley May who will be real contenders for the remaining positions. And I would not count out Andrea Beseris or Randi Kendrick. Plus Carly Hutchings can challenge Bailey Williams at the keeper position. So, by the end of the season, I would not be surprised to see as many as six or seven freshmen starting and seeing ten or more having significant playing time. Not only does this mean the Bengals have a legitimate chance of recapturing the Big Sky, but it also gives us a tremendous foundation for the next four years. Expect to see ISU start to become a soccer powerhouse in the west.
The team starts out with two tough road games against Marquette (who spent a part of last season in the top 20 nationally) and Loyola – Chicago, who is always tough. The freshmen will only have about three weeks to get themselves game ready. But by the time we hit the heart of the season, we should see the Bengals recapture the Governor’s Cup and hopefully, take the Big Sky by storm. Look forward to a great season!
Everything is pointing to one helluva season for the Bengals yo! NO MERCY! SEND OUR OPPONENTS' SOULS TO ODIN!