Aug. 20, 2009
The 2009 women's soccer season brings a lot of hope for George Mason. The Patriots return 10 starters who have combined to start 343 games for Mason. In addition, eight players will take the pitch in 2009 that didn't play for the Patriots last season. The combination of veteran experience and new talent should give the Patriots depth and skill that they haven't had in some time. The season begins on Friday at 5 p.m. when the Patriots play on the road against VMI. The game will be played on the campus of Washington & Lee.
The heart of the 2009 team begins in the midfield, where Mason has five seniors and 12 players with at least a year of experience on the team under their belt. Patti Benner, Leslie Cabe, Jessie Hart, Colleen Killiany and Sasha Vido all enter their final season with Mason while Capricia Alston, Alyssa Andersen, Zania Barnum, Evan Feldman, Jordan McDonald and Kimmy Moss return having played one or more seasons for the Patriots. Finally, Omolyn Davis who sat out in 2008 due to transfer rules but practiced with the team last year will finally be able to appear on the pitch.
"We designed our midfield around our attacking midfield personalities," said sixth-year head coach Diane Drake. "They read the game so well that we're trying to stretch the opposition out and get into special places in front of the net." Drake is speaking of Davis and Alston who will see time at the attacking midfield position.
"Omolyn is the kind of player where every game that is 1-0, she has the ability to flip it to 2-1 in our favor, or at least equalize it," Drake said. "She's a world-class player with deceptive style and her change of pace is extraordinary. Capricia is one of our strongest tacticians in the game and can thread fantastic final passes that pick teams apart. She is off to a very impressive junior campaign and we have high expectations of her."
Sharing time at the outside midfield position are Benner and Moss while Andersen, Cabe and Killiany will be working onto the field with significant minutes at the same position. Also contributing at wide midfield will be Hart and McDonald. At holding midfield a trio will share significant minutes in Barnum, Vido and Benner along with Hart and Feldman and a pair of freshmen, Mary Kate Lowry and Ashley Mims.
"We have the depth at the wide mid position to press teams the way we want to and we have really strong pace out there," Drake said. "Since that group of players were freshmen, we've been a really strong possession team and they have a really dynamic ability to keep a ball and hold a ball. The difference between their abilities last year and now is that they have players around them that we've been training all spring and summer to go forward. Don't just pass the ball. Go to the goal. Make penetrating passes. Attack, be more dangerous!"
Backing up the midfielders will be a back line with just as much experience. Sophomores Nicole Peters and Kelly Thomas are returning starters and senior Hannah Sklar has more experience than anyone else. Hart, Lowry and freshman Camille Vershooris will also see time on the back line.
"They defend first, they have been strong at clearing balls this pre-season. They all are fantastic at serving balls and breaking pressure," Drake said. "They are composed enough to keep possession and get to our outlet players. Very few people will be able to run in a foot race behind them."
Sklar, enters the 2009 season having started every game in her career. At 57 straight starts, she holds the sixth-longest streak in school history and could move into third place before the season ends. "She's an unbelievable leader and on the field, she is the glue that keeps everyone together," Drake said. "Without her we would miss so much. We'd have no voice. With her, we have a voice, a focus and an energy."
Behind Sklar and her fellow backline players will be a freshman and a pair of sophomores fighting to earn the right to defend the goal. Alex Bodenschatz and Melissa Mailley return after both having made starts last season but freshman Katie Frey could be the one to earn the starting job.
"Mailley looks so much more confident in preseason," Drake said. "Her kicking game has improved. Her tactical play and focus is so much better than it was a year ago. Alex is disciplined and focused and is great on breakaways. Her strongest attribute is that she will compete all season long to gain any minute possible. Frey, her strength is winning balls in the air and on services that come in. She can serve a ball very well and has the potential to be an incredible college player."
Perhaps no spot on the team will be as different from last year as the forward position. Theresa DeLucca and Annie Lebherz return while Kelly Keelan will be available at forward full time this year. Last year, Keelan led the team in goals but was forced to start 11 games in net and in one contest, earned a win while scoring off a set piece. Three freshmen, Tiana Kallenberger, Crissy Parker and Jessica Pisasale and sophomore Sandra Wingert will also find themselves on the field at forward.
"The versatility, depth and attacking tendencies of that group will be difficult for teams to figure out," Drake said. "We have a lot of weapons up front. Kelly has a wicked left foot and terrific technical ability. Theresa is having one of the most impressive attacking campaigns in pre-season. She has been in the zone the entire time. Annie is really sharp and focused and committed to doing all the valuable little things to keep the ball alive and dangerous in the opponent's goal mouth. Kallenberger is really athletic, fast and dangerous with an extraordinary work rate and defensive edge. Pisasale is one of the most dangerous players I've seen in the air in a long time with a great one-on-one game. Parker is really versatile, really scrappy and constantly gets into position for first touches and reads the game well. We believe the top five or six forwards we have, could make a great case to start on any other CAA team."
Speaking of the CAA, Drake sees the conference as wide open this season after James Madison, which returns 10 starters after advancing to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. The Patriots were selected to finish eighth in the 12-team conference. The top four will advance to the CAA Tournament to fight for the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Before conference play begins, Mason will have nine contests with five at home, including two in the Mason Tournament, two matches on the road and two at the William & Mary Tournament.
"We really wanted to put a schedule together that gave us some opportunities to understand who we were with a very predictable pattern of subbing before we got to conference play," Drake said. "We want to accomplish two things. One, make sure everyone has a role that they understand, and two, develop the younger players making sure our freshmen are seasoned and experienced by the end of the year."
