MC women’s soccer team seeks berth in league playoffs

Release Date: September 1, 2005

MONMOUTH, Ill. — For the second time in as many years, the Monmouth College women’s soccer team entered the final weekend of last season needing a win against St. Norbert to advance to the Midwest Conference playoffs. But a one-goal halftime deficit ballooned to a 6-2 loss to the Green Knights, leaving a talented Fighting Scots team at home again for the postseason.

Many of the key players who have experienced those two consecutive years of heartache return for the Scots, and they comprise the nucleus of a team that plans on breaking the school’s 11-year playoff drought.

“Last year, we felt we were ready to take that next step, and there were times when we looked awfully strong,” said third-year coach Barry McNamara, whose team ultimately finished 7-8-1.

For example, the Scots led Grinnell, the league’s NCAA tourney representative, 1-0 at halftime, and they also had a 1-0 lead at the half against a 7-0 Carroll team which eventually made the playoffs. Lake Forest stormed through the MWC regular season unbeaten, but not before the Scots played the host Foresters to a 1-1 halftime tie.

“What we failed to do last season was play a full 90 minutes, especially defensively, against the top teams in our league,” said McNamara. “We don’t plan to make a major overhaul this fall, but we’re just going to try to get a little bit better in several areas, including speed, conditioning and overall team defense.

“I felt last year we had the talent to reach the postseason, and I really feel that way now, with all of our returning players plus a couple strong additions.”

Leading the returners is three-time first team All-MWC pick Amy Horneck. Last year, Horneck tallied 15 goals to go with 12 assists, and she earned a share of the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year honor.

“Amy scored at least one goal in eight of our nine conference games and had an assist in the other,” said McNamara of the fleet forward, who is Monmouth’s all-time leading scorer. “Some of the goals she scored were simply amazing. What I like most about our offense is that we’re not one-dimensional. If a team tries to take Amy out of the game, we’ve got several other players who can put the ball in the back of the net.”

That list includes seniors Abby Horneck (18 goals, 19 assists in career) and Audrey Stoffel (14 goals, 15 assists). The two do-everything players have worked well together in the middle of Monmouth’s attack for three seasons and, as their statistics indicate, are equally adept at scoring and distributing.

“Last year, we asked Abby to sacrifice her offense in some games and mark the other team’s best player,” said McNamara. “It’s a possibility that we’ll ask something similar of her this year, but no matter where Abby lines up, she’s going to be a leader on this team.”

Along with junior Audrey Bellefeuille (11 career goals), Stoffel was one of two players to receive votes from her teammates as the squad’s best offensive player, best defender and most improved player.

“That kind of versatility and value is hard to come by, and we are very fortunate to have two players who can shine the way they did last fall,” said McNamara, whose record at Monmouth is 14-14-3. “Both Audreys were already strong players, and for them to receive MIP consideration shows how hard they worked in the offseason. Many players on the rest of the team have bought into that work ethic, and we’re going to have a lot of most improved candidates in 2005.”

Other players with proven goal-scoring capabilities for the Scots include sophomore forward Ashley Kensinger (4 goals, 4 assists) and defenders Kathleen Heinrich (3 goals in 2005) and Kristin Mertel (9 goals, 9 assists in career).

“‘Mertle’ will have a vital role on the team,” said McNamara of the team’s two-time defensive MVP. “It might be at her normal position of stopper, or we might move her a slot forward or backward, depending on our needs. Kathleen has been a rock in our defense for the past three seasons, and we’ll be counting on big things from her as well.”

Injuries slowed Kensinger last year, and they also kept freshmen like defender Laura VandeMoortel, midfielder Summer Waecker (2 goals) and forward Katie Graham from realizing their full potential.

“The injury bug hit our freshmen especially hard,” said McNamara. “A few injuries were game-related, but I think others were simply cases of bodies not quite being ready for the physical demands of college soccer. We’re deep enough this fall to be able to overcome an injury here or there, but I think we really have the opportunity for something special if we can all stay healthy.”

Other returners who will battle for starting time are junior defender Jess Myers and sophomore midfielders Lauren Lafond and Rocio Mendez.

Five recruits were added to the Scots’ roster, and midfielder Sarah Kisner (East Moline) and goalkeeper Kelly Gladkin (Orion) will battle for starting spots. Gladkin can play in the field, as well, but her main role is to serve as competition between the posts for junior Amanda Havens, who played every minute as goalie for the Scots in 2003. The other ’keepers on the roster are sophomore Jennifer Scott and senior Tiffany Miskimen.

Rounding out Monmouth’s returners are senior Jolene Bazon, junior Dani Briceno and sophomores Katie Buerger, Lauren Livingston, Anne Murphy and Jenny Tunberg. The other newcomers are Miskimen, sophomore Jessica DeMink and freshmen Eva Kainer (Resurrection), Jenna Redman (Streator) and Liz Sandoval (Highland Park).

McNamara said the team got a pleasant surprise in the spring when they learned that MC faculty member Dick Johnston would return as an assistant.

“Dick has a great soccer mind, and his daily presence will help us play to our full potential,” said McNamara.

The Fighting Scots will kick off the season Sept. 4 with a home game against Dubuque University. The conference season starts the following Saturday when Monmouth travels to Illinois College.

“All four teams who made the playoffs last season lost varying amounts of talent to graduation,” said McNamara. “They still have to be considered the teams to beat, but we made up some ground on them last year in terms of competitiveness, and I think this is the year we can make up the rest of that ground.”

Women's Soccer