2006 Women’s Soccer Season Preview

The 2005 season for the Patriot Ladies was a learning experience. With a completely new coaching staff and many new freshmen in the starting lineup, there were new positions to get used to, a new formation to learn, and a new overall style of play to transition into.

“We hoped for a little more success last season. Unfortunately, the development of the team wasn’t established until the end of the spring,” said Head Coach Aron Bassoff. Although the Patriot ladies did separate themselves from some teams by winning 5 games by 3 goals or more and winning 2 games that were decided by a goal, they still need to win more games to overcome their obstacles and move on to the next level. “Obviously the development from the fall into the spring sets the table for us this fall,” said Bassoff. “I think the returning players have turned the corner and they exhibited a good approach throughout the spring. I expect that this next season will be extremely positive.”

The Patriots will have to replace Dana Ferguson, Melissa Neale, and Melanie Roberts who were the heart of the 2005 team. “Dana Ferguson will be a tough person to replace,” said Bassoff. “She was the heart of the midfield. Melissa Neale was a very tough midfielder who gave us a good work rate and was good on the ball so she will be tough to replace as well. Melanie Roberts was a tremendous leader for us last year and it will be difficult to replace her.”

But the future looks bright for the ladies soccer squad with an excellent freshman class which has some players that will be able to contribute right away where the most help is needed. There are also some new faces that have a legitimate shot at earning a starting position. “This recruiting class will give us some depth which we struggled with last year,” Bassoff said. “On paper, this team will have a strong starting 11 and another quality 6-8 coming off the bench. There will be a lot of competition to see who will start this year and throughout the season.”

New faces include i n the back, Nuala Deans and Tammi Kerr who both have an extremely strong center defense. In the midfield, CJ Link and Natalia de Pires Oliveria will sure things for the Patriots and give them the toughness and skill needed to be a great link to the forwards. Other valuable players such as Ashley Honaker, Courtney Jackson, and Gaby Buch, have the ability to start but it is a question of where they fit best.

Returning players Leslie Allred (10 goals, 1 assist), Bethany Ott (goalkeeper), and Davin Caudill should be a big help. Davin had to redshirt this past year but had a very strong spring. Also Rebecca Rube and Lesley Bryan who had 20 goals between them should create some good options upfront. Tori Hogg struggled with an injury throughout last year and just started to find her form during the spring. Kelly Mason and Nery Saucedo both also return to the squad and should give some very good options in the midfield.

“I am really looking forward to bringing this all together. With the right mindset of our returning players and the quality of the recruiting class it will be exciting to see how it all comes together. The potential of this team to be very good is there,” stated Coach Bassoff.

“The toughest aspect of this season will be putting everything together. New players and returning players getting on the same page quickly will be the key to determining our success. If it happens quickly and everyone gets comfortable it could be a terrific season for us . Our goal is ambitious but attainable. We want to be nationally ranked by the end of this year,” said Bassoff.

The Mid-South Conference is notably one of the toughest with Lindsey Wilson. In addition, Martin Methodist, who won the National Championship in 2005, is in the Patriots region. Those two teams consist of 2 of the top 5 teams in the NAIA.

For the Patriots to achieve the success they deserve, they still have many obstacles to overcome. Will their timing be right in 2006? They will take it game by game as they open their season on August 25 th at home at 3:00 PM as they take on the University of Alabama-Huntsville.

2005-2006 Preview

2004-2005 Preview