The Georgetown Women’s soccer team finished last season with a program record fourteen wins and earned the team’s first ever NCAA tournament berth. This year’s women’s soccer team features some new components but maintains the same lofty goals.
“There is a new dynamic on the team for sure,” senior midfielder Stephanie Zare (5 goals, 5 asst) said. “It’s a new team, a new face, but in a good way.”
The Hoyas are ranked third in the National Division of the Big East Preseason Coaches’ Poll, behind only Notre Dame and Louisville.
“It’s going to be an interesting year for us because the expectation levels have been raised with last year’s success,” head coach and reigning Big East Coach of the Year Dave Nolan said. “We’ll be a team that has a target on our back a little bit more than in the past.”
The team loses eight seniors from last year. The Hoyas will also be without sophomore forward Ingrid Wells (6 goals, 13 asst), who will represent the United States in the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, and incoming freshman Getta Mjoll Samuelsdottir, who is playing with the Icelandic national team.
“We’ve lost a lot,” Nolan said, “but having said that, this group has done really well so far in preseason. We had two incredibly difficult exhibition games against Maryland and University of Virginia and we preformed really well.”
The Hoyas played both teams to a draw—3-3 against Maryland and 2-2 against University of Virginia.
The severe personnel losses will force Nolan and the Hoyas to reconsider their style of play.
“How we played last year, a lot of it was based on her [Wells], and it was a system designed to get the most out of her and getting her the ball in the most dangerous spots,” Coach Nolan said.
The team will now rely on graduate student and Second Team All-Big East performer Sara Jordan (7 goals, 5 asst)—who lost a year of eligibility in 2006 due to injury—and incoming freshman Kelly D’Ambrisi to fill the large void left by the diminutive Wells.
“I think being the oldest one and being here for my fifth year has allowed me to step into a more positive leadership role,” Jordan said.
But just when Nolan was certain he had the team’s needs figured out, he found problems in an unexpected place: the backline.
“Preseason has taught me that I know nothing,” Nolan joked. “We haven’t had any problems scoring goals, but right now I’m a little worried about keeping goals.”
The team’s starting goalie, sophomore Jackie DesJargin, returns from last year. She posted seven saves in the Hoyas’ exhibition game against UVA, while freshman goalie Elizabeth Hanna grabbed one save.
The Hoyas will face off against the conference’s top teams in the second half of the season. The team has its eye on one particular game after last year’s disappointing 5-3 loss against West Virginia—a game in which they blew a two goal lead.
The season begins this Saturday at 1 p.m. as the Hoyas travel across town to take on American University.
“I think you can pin yourself into a corner if you set yourself up for certain goals and it looks like maybe you are not reaching them,” Nolan said. “Then all of a sudden that season becomes a disappointment.”
Despite last year’s success, these are not the same Hoyas. Whether or not they are better off is yet to be determined.
