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Scots’ women’s soccer seeks return
trip to MWC playoffs
Release Date: August 30, 2006
MONMOUTH, Ill. — The Monmouth
College women’s soccer team is coming off its best season in
history, an 11-6 campaign that resulted in the Fighting Scots’ first
Midwest Conference playoff berth. The Scots set team records for
goals scored (58) and fewest goals allowed (25) en route to winning
more matches in a season than any MC soccer team ever had.
Twelve players were regular starters for the Scots, and six of them,
including a quartet of four-year starters, won’t be back. But
fourth-year coach Barry McNamara believes his team can meet or
exceed last year’s accomplishments.
“With six starters gone and six starters returning, we can literally
look at our team as a glass half-full or half-empty,” said McNamara,
whose coaching record at Monmouth is 25-20-3. “I believe that it’s
half-full because of our strong finish last year and the fact that
we’ve added a dozen or so strong players through the recruiting
process.”
Before talking about that recruiting class, which actually brought
in 14 new players, McNamara highlighted his team’s returning talent,
which starts with senior co-captain Kristin Mertel.
“‘Mertle’ has been such a rock for us the past three seasons at
stopper,” McNamara said of last year’s second team All-MWC
selection. “She’s the best player in the air that I’ve ever coached,
she has one of the strongest legs on the team, and her ball skills
and decision making are second to none. We expect her to be a leader
for us this year in every sense of that word.”
The team’s other co-captain, midfielder Audrey Bellefeuille, has
started every game of her MC career and has been on the field for
nearly every minute of action. Through three years, she has 13 goals
and five assists.
“Audrey has an all-around game, and she could probably start for us
on defense or at forward,” said McNamara. “We like her at outside
midfield because she’s so fit and because she’s well-equipped to
handle both the offensive and defensive responsibilities of that
position.”
Although Monmouth’s all-time leading scorer, Amy Horneck, has
graduated, McNamara is happy to welcome back the conference’s third-
and fourth-leading returning scorers, junior forward Ashley
Kensinger (11 goals) and sophomore midfielder Sarah Kisner (8
goals).
“Ashley was healthy last season, and she showed what she can do with
a full season under her belt,” said McNamara. “She might move up to
the No. 1 target of other team’s defenses, but I think she’s ready
for the challenge.”
Kisner missed a little playing time last fall, but the Scots were
10-2 during the regular season when she was on the field. The former
East Moline standout possesses a rocket shot and, like Mertel, can
score with her head, too.
“We anticipate playing Sarah as one of our two center mids,” said
McNamara. “Whether she has more of a defensive or offensive role
will depend on the players we have around her at the time.”
Also back from last year’s starters are juniors Laura VandeMoortel
and Lauren Lafond. VandeMoortel emerged as a very solid marking back
and helped the Scots to a six-game win streak in October that saw
them allow only three goals. Lafond is perfectly suited to outside
left midfield, and she emerged as a scoring threat last fall,
knocking in key goals in conference wins over Illinois College and
St. Norbert.
Other returners for the Scots are juniors Lauren Livingston, Rocio
Mendez and Jenny Tunberg and sophomore Liz Sandoval. Returners also
include senior goalkeeper Kirsten Brady, who is back with the Scots
after being on their 2003 roster.
The goalie position became the Scots’ top recruiting priority late
in the offseason, and McNamara is pleased that junior college
transfer Vanessa Kentfield and freshman Kayla Trammell (Richwoods)
are now on board.
“Last fall, we were recruiting Vanessa as a center midfielder, which
is what she played her sophomore year at Elgin Community College,”
said McNamara. “But she also has extensive goalie experience in high
school and her first year at ECC, and she might wind up being our
starter. We’ve been impressed by what we’ve seen from her so far.”
Trammell, an All-Sectional Honorable Mention pick in 2005, has been
one of the stronger goalies in the soccer-rich Peoria area for the
past few seasons and has also been impressive in the preseason.
McNamara anticipates that Kentfield or Trammell could be joined in
the Opening Day lineup by five other incoming players, and
contenders include forward Christa Davidson (Alton), midfielder
Maikenzie Stawicki (Riverdale) and defenders Lauren Vana (Downers
Grove South), Whitney Ott (Alleman) and Lindsay Johnson
(Burlington). Johnson’s BHS teammate, Amanda Neira, and Holly White
(Oswego) are battling preseason injuries but will be counted on soon
to contribute offensively, possibly in time for Monmouth’s season
opener on Sept. 1 against Aurora.
Stawicki, who started for East Moline as a junior, spent last spring
running on two state finalist relay teams for the Rams, while Vana
was a big part of DGS’s strong defense. Neira earned honorable
mention all-state honors in Iowa and is a two-time All-Area Player
of the Year, and Davidson and Ott were IHSSCA Honorable Mention
All-Sectional picks as seniors. Another recruit, defender Emily
Caron, is a three-time All-Sectional honoree.
“Our recruiting class is very interesting,” said McNamara. “Five of
them started at sweeper or center defense for their high school
teams. One of them will likely replace our graduated first team
All-MWC sweeper (Abby Horneck), but others figure to make the
starting lineup at different positions.”
Johnson and Ott are the leading sweeper contenders at the moment,
and Sally Hayes (Mt. Pleasant) also played that position in high
school and has displayed a strong leg in the preseason.
Rounding out the recruiting class are midfielders Tina Rohrbach
(Dunlap) and Claudia Gomez (Chicago Notre Dame) and forward Jeanette
Friedrich (Macomb).
“I honestly believe that we could field a team entirely of our new
players and be very competitive,” said McNamara, who will once again
be joined on the sidelines by veteran coach Dick Johnston. “But
fortunately for us, we get to mix in the veterans with the
newcomers, and if we get it right, I think this team can do
everything that last year’s squad accomplished and more.”
Monmouth will open its season with two tough non-conference games,
as it also visits Dubuque on Sept. 7. MWC play starts Sept. 9 when
Illinois College comes to town.
“Last year, Grinnell and Carroll showed they were the class of the
league with their 1-2 finish and their pair of extremely close
head-to-head games,” said McNamara. “But they both lose several key
players, and so does the league’s other playoff team, Lake Forest.
With all those top players gone (eight of the MWC’s 11 first-teamers),
the league will have a new look this fall, and we like our chances.”
Officially, the Scots have been picked fourth in the preseason poll.
Grinnell received eight first-place nods, with Carroll getting the
other two. Lake Forest was picked third.
Women's Soccer
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