Women's Soccer | 9/1/2015 1:38:00 PM
WHEELING, W.Va. – The Wheeling Jesuit women's soccer team has a new leader and a stronger roster to spur great optimism heading into the 2015 fall season.
For only the third time in program history, the Cardinals have a new head coach as assistant coach Tyler Absalom takes the team's reigns. Absalom adds continuity to a rising team from former WJU standout player and head coach Carrie Hanna, who directed the program for the past 13 years.
Absalom will make his coaching debut when WJU takes on Chaminade University in Honolulu, Hawaii on September 3 and at Hawaii Pacific University on September 5. The Cardinals return home and open Mountain East Conference play when they host the Mountain Lions of Concord University on Tuesday, September 8, with the match beginning at 7:30 p.m.
"It will be my first season as head coach, but I was a part of recruiting every player as assistant coach. I feel I have a lot of cohesion with the group already," said Absalom.
WJU comes off a tough, but a very competitive season. The Cardinals claimed only one victory and tied six opponents where all but two matches were decided by one goal. With this being the case, the WJU 2014 season cannot be accurately measured in wins and losses.
"I look forward to playing a good style of soccer of working relentlessly on-and-off the ball and on both sides of the ball. If we do those things, I expect us to have a better season than last year," points out the new WJU head coach. "I am not measuring (the team) success in wins and losses. If we play like I am asking them to play, the regular season will take care of itself. We need to focus more in the final third of the game to finish off our (scoring) chances and continue to deny theirs."
Overall, the 2015 Cardinals will, again, be a young squad. The youth, though, will be a bit misleading and a reason for optimism.
"I am optimistic because we are young, but we have experience, as well as great incoming talent. Most young teams don't have our experience in close games like we do," pointed out Absalom.
The young team will lean on its five veteran senior players – goalie Holly Kraus (Avon, Ohio/Avon), defenders Kristin Eaton (Coshocton, Ohio/Riverview), Kylee Macura (New Kensington, Pa./Valley) and Maria Tennant (Moundsville, W.Va./John Marshall) along with midfielder Meme Earnest (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger).
In the net, Kraus, a three-year starter, aims to equal her outstanding junior campaign as a senior. The Cardinal goalkeeper was one of the NCAA Division II's top ten goalies in save percentage a year ago at 0.850. She totaled a career-high 136 saves last season and produced 247 saves over 3,600 career minutes.
Kraus will also be pushed by freshman goalkeeper Hannah Thompson (Hurricane, W.Va.), who was named All-State second team at Hurricane High School.
Eaton, Macura, and Tennant will lead the Cardinals' defenders. The three backline defenders helped to hold foes to 24 goals in 16 matches. Sophomore center back Natalie Indermuhle (Sterling, Ohio/Smithville), who has great size and in the air ability, completes the back line of defense.
Earnest leads the midfield for the Cardinals as the group's lone senior. Juniors Meghan Horan (Wheeling, W.Va./Wheeling Park), Morgan Jacobson (Concord, Ohio/Riverside), and Falon Weidman (St. Clairsville, Ohio/St. Clairsville), and sophomore Samantha Combs (Germantown, Ohio/ Valley View) join Earnest amongst the midfield ranks.
On the offensive side of the field, WJU looks to improve on its goal scoring from a year ago as it returns leading-scorer Nikki Hillard (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman) and Sydney Lavengood (Morgantown, W.Va./Morgantown). Hillard led the Cardinals with four goals in her 2014 freshman season. Lavengood adds depth to the WJU roster, as she netted one goal during her sophomore campaign.
The Cardinals also bring in three prolific goal-scoring freshmen – forwards Emily Hartley (Coshocton, Ohio/Coshocton) and Cheyenne Kuncher (Jennerstown, Pa./North Star), and midfielder Gabby Burchett (Plain City, Ohio/Fairbanks), who each respectively scored over 100 high school goals.
"We were so close to having such a different season a year ago," Absalom stated. "We struggled to score goals last year, and this year we have seven forwards that will create a competitive culture, which will lead to a big area of improvement."
The combination of young experience and veteran presence along with added fire power gives WJU the opportunity to transform its high level of optimism into a highly-successful 2015 campaign.
-GoCards-
