Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Looking To Take The Next Step
August 22, 2003 | Women's Soccer
Aug. 22, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Coming off the most successful season in school history, head coach Andy Richards and the Bowling Green State University women's soccer program now look to take the next step. The Falcons enter the 2003 campaign looking to solidify themselves as a perennial Mid-American Conference title contender.
Last year, the Falcons were predicted to finish ninth in the MAC in the preseason coaches poll. The Brown and Orange proved the prognosticators wrong, however, placing fourth in the 13-team league and setting school records for MAC and overall wins.
Richards and his assistants, Ashlee Orr and volunteer assistant Darin Karbler, lose four graduated seniors from last year's squad, but return 16 letterwinners, including a whopping 10 starters. The 2003 Falcons may have the most depth of any team in the history of the program. It's a good thing, as the Brown and Orange will face arguably the toughest schedule in school history.
"As a coaching staff, we made a conscious decision to really upgrade our strength of schedule this year," said Richards. "We feel the squad is now talented enough and deep enough to match up with the quality of opposition we've scheduled.
"I don't think we had the depth of talent to handle such a schedule a couple of years ago. But, after the success of last year, and the fact that we have brought in another strong recruiting class, we now feel we are ready for the challenge."
The Falcons had a bevy of newcomers last season, with 11 freshmen, and each of the field players saw extended action.
"All of last year's recruits have made a name for themselves," said Richards. "We brought in a huge class, and virtually all of those kids started or earned a good amount of playing time.
"So, with a season under their belts, that experience hopefully will put us in good stead throughout the season." The following is a positional analysis of the 2003 Falcons:
GOALKEEPER
For the first time in recent memory, the job of starting goalkeeper is wide open. Erika Flanders, a four-year starter, has graduated after setting every goalkeeping record in school history. She capped her BGSU career by earning All-MAC First-Team honors in 2002.
For the first time in school history, however, there are four 'keepers on the roster, looking to win the starting job. Redshirt sophomore Ali Shingler has the most match experience of the four, having backed Flanders as a freshman in 2001.
Shingler did not see match action last fall, as Flanders played every minute of every contest, but has seen a great deal of action in spring games over the past two years.
Redshirt freshman Allie Failor and true freshman Samantha Martinez also are in the mix, as is senior Jenifer Kernahan. Martinez will miss the start of the season, however, due to injury. Kernahan has earned three letters to date on the Falcon softball team.
"From one perspective, Erika has left us with some big shoes to fill," said Richards. "However, it is an exciting time for the program, as we have some very healthy competition for the spot. We hope that one of our four 'keepers will step into the starting lineup and do a solid job.
"Ali Shingler has patiently bided her time. She practiced alongside Erika for two years, and has seen what it takes to be a top goalkeeper in the MAC. She has seniority and experience on her side.
"Allie Failor now has a year of experience under her belt. She saw some time in the spring, and I expect her to be able to push for that starting spot as well.
"We added Jenifer partly to give us three fit goalkeepers at the beginning of the season. But, we also wanted her because she is a great competitor who is excited by the challenge of playing soccer again. She was recruited by BG (for soccer) out of high school, but elected to concentrate on softball. She has the pedigree; we just need to get her some experience in the preseason.
"Sam Martinez tore her ACL, but is progressing fairly well and should get clearance (to begin practicing) by late September. So, she won't see the whole of the season, but should be ready to go for the latter half.
"We are very fortunate to have four players vying for the starting spot, and we'll just wait and see who wins the job by the end of preseason."
DEFENDER
The Falcons' new starting goalie will have the benefit of an experienced defensive corps in front of her. BGSU returns all six defenders from a year ago, and adds one freshman to the mix.
"We will look very similar to last season in the back," said Richards. "It is important, particularly for defenders, to feel comfortable with each other, know what each teammate is going to do and work as a cohesive unit. With the experience of six returnees, we should have great strength in the back."
A pair of sophomores, Megan Rapp and Natalie Sampiller, shared the starting sweeper spot last year. Each player made at least 12 starts and provided steady play that belied their youth.
"Sweeper is such an integral part of the team, and we had a freshman playing there every minute of every game last fall," said Richards. "That is amazing.
"Both Megan and Natalie have done tremendously well. It was very tough to choose between them at times last year, and we look forward to another tough decision this year. The great thing about both players is that each can play at marking back as well. But, there will be a lot of competition there."
The lone fourth-year Falcon, senior Kasey Freeman, is one of the reasons for the competition at marking back. Freeman, a co-captain on the 2003 squad, has started 41 consecutive BG matches.
Junior Jenny Berlovan started 19 matches a year ago after making 14 starts as a freshman. Another junior, Beth Rieman, has held down the stopper position for the last two years, while third-year Falcon Kylene Newell will be pushing for time in the back as well.
The lone newcomer in the defensive corps is Kristen Grove, who is the latest in the Falcons' parade of recruits from the Cincinnati area.
"At marking back, Kasey has an awful lot of experience," said Richards. "She has established herself as a left-sided defender.
"Jenny Berlovan has pretty much tied down the right side, and Beth Rieman has played nearly every minute since she's been at Bowling Green."
Rieman has made 40 career starts, trailing only Freeman's 47 among current Falcon team members.
"Plus, Kylene has progressed incredibly well since she came to us as a walk-on two years ago," said the head coach. "She had a good showing in the spring, and should be in contention for time as well.
"Kristen can play a variety of positions. We've mainly seen her as a left-sided defender, so she could provide competition to Kasey and Jenny at marking back. But, we feel confident that Kristen could play in the midfield as well, if needed."
MIDFIELDER
Richards and his staff have the same dilemma in the midfield as on the back line -- how to choose a starting lineup from seven returning players and two talented newcomers. As is the case on defense, the Falcons did not lose a single midfield player to graduation.
"We feel the whole midfield is strong," said Richards. "And, we have some difficult decisions to make at those spots, as we now have that depth we really did not have a few years ago."
Richards feels that his central midfield players are particularly strong, with that group including junior Nikki Pucillo and sophomores Molly Bremen, Leah Eggleton and Samantha Meister. Pucillo has started in each of her first two years, while Eggleton made 15 starts in her freshman campaign, scoring five points.
Bremen, more of a defensive-minded player, made seven starts, as did the offensive-minded Meister, who was named the MAC's Newcomer of the Year despite missing seven contests due to injury. Meister had six goals and 17 points in her 15 matches as a freshman.
"All four are very good players," said Richards. "We are incredibly loaded, and it is so hard to choose just two starters.
"The great thing is that the four have very different styles. Sammi, of course, is someone the opponents certainly know about. She is very good at going forward, and is excellent in the air. But, the other three may not have gotten the recognition they deserve.
"Leah is probably one of the toughest players in the MAC, and she can get forward and get back. Nikki Pucillo will work all day, and is a great passer.
"Molly is a tremendous on-the-field personality who can do a very good defensive job. We have great variety there, which will help us adapt according to whom we are playing on a particular day."
On the outside, sophomore Julie Trundle was one of just two field players (joining Freeman) to start all 22 matches last year. Trundle finished second on the team with 18 points, including a team-high eight assists, and set a school record by scoring a point in seven consecutive matches. Trundle and freshman Sara Moore will be vying for time on the left side.
"Julie scored some excellent goals for us last year," said Richards. "She scored five goals, and each one was very important. She had two game winners, and also scored the tying goal at Eastern Michigan, just six seconds from time in regulation. We look for her to have another good season.
"Sara, a Michigan native, will look to share some time on the left as well. Obviously, as a freshman, Sara is untried at the collegiate level, but she will do well in our environment."
On the right side, senior Carrie Richards and sophomore Ashley Wentzel will be pushed by freshman Lindsay Carter. Richards, no relation to the head coach, played in every match last year after seeing only 10 minutes of action in 2001. She joins Freeman as a co-captain of the Falcons this fall.
Wentzel's three assists included the crossing ball that Trundle headed home in the waning seconds of regulation at EMU. She made three starts as a freshman.
"Carrie Richards played a lot of time on the right side last year," said Andy Richards. "I have no doubts that she will do a nice job, both as a defender and going forward.
"Ashley had a tremendous spring, and may have been the best player of the spring season. She did a good job of becoming an attacking player, provided some great crosses for our forwards and did her share of defending as well. She pushed herself into contention for that spot.
"Lindsay Carter, a Columbus-area product, is similar in style to Julie in that she can run all day. Lindsay is fast, tenacious, a good passer of the ball and a great crosser."
FORWARD
The front line was hit hard by graduation, as three of the Falcons' four 2002 seniors were forwards. One, Jill Conover, left as the school's career scoring leader, while another, Tracy Gleixner, joins Conover near the top of the career goals list. The third player, Susan Wallace, scored some key goals over her four-year career.
"We lost three players who played a lot of minutes and scored a lot of goals," said Richards. "We will miss those three players, and forward is an area where we will need some people to step up.
"Having said that, the situation is not quite the same as at goalkeeper, as we have some experienced returnees."
Highlighting the four returning players up front is junior Kristy Coppes, already the school's career goals leader. Coppes, the MAC Newcomer of the Year in 2001, has scored 12 goals in each of her first two campaigns.
Junior Katie Piening and sophomores Britt Anderson and Keeley Dayton also return at forward, and are joined by freshmen Karen Brown and Jenny Matson.
Piening is the lone Falcon among the 16 returning letterwinners who did not start a match last year, but she made 12 starts the previous season. She has career totals of four goals and 15 points.
Anderson worked her way into the starting lineup last year, tying for fourth on the team in goals. Half of her four scores were game winners. Anderson, who also played basketball at BGSU last year, will play only soccer this season.
Dayton, slowed by injury at season's outset, had goals in back-to-back late-season matches and started a total of five contests.
"Kristy, part of our solid junior class, has given us 12 goals a year," said Richards. "She also gives us a great leader up front.
"Add to that Britt Anderson, who did a good job last year and is now a full-time soccer player. Like Julie Trundle, Britt seemed to score goals at very important times.
"Keeley is an exciting player to watch. She really came on toward the end of the year, and also had a very good spring. We will look to her for more minutes and scoring production, now that she has gained experience and recovered from those injuries.
"Katie Piening has tremendous pace up front, a strong shot, and is good in the air. She has the ability to have an impact on the game. Katie suffered an injury in the spring and is looking to come back after a lengthy layoff, but can offer us some dynamic play.
"Karen and Jenny both have good pace. They both also have the ability to hold the ball and link with the midfield players, and each has the ability to score some goals for us.
"We have a lot of bodies up front -- six people for two positions -- but that gives us the option to change our formation and perhaps play three forwards. Or, it gives us the ability to rotate fresh bodies into the game. We look for some good production out of these six forwards."
THE SCHEDULE
As mentioned, the 2003 schedule may be the toughest in the seven-year history of the Falcon program. BGSU's 21-match regular-season schedule includes 10 contests at Cochrane Field. The Brown and Orange will play six NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, including five in the Falcons' nine non-conference matches.
BGSU will head to Hawai'i to begin the season, playing two matches in the OHANA Hotels and Resorts No Ka Oi Tournament. The Falcons will meet Arizona State (Aug. 30) and host Hawai'i (Aug. 31) on that trip.
Upon the return to the mainland, BG will open the home portion of the schedule vs. Eastern Illinois (Sept. 5), kicking off a four-match homestand.
In addition to the Hawai'i trip and the EIU match, the Falcons' non-league slate also includes home games vs. Cincinnati, Wright State and Ohio State, as well as road tilts against Detroit, Valparaiso and Michigan State.
The 12-match MAC slate begins early, with a Sept. 7 home contest vs. EMU. The Falcons also host Central Michigan, Akron, Toledo, Buffalo and Kent State in conference action, while taking to the road to face Ball State, Miami, Western Michigan, Northern Illinois, Ohio and Marshall. The Falcons will face each of the other three 2002 MAC Tournament semifinalists -- Miami, BSU and Ohio -- on the road.
"Every game this season will be very tough, MAC or otherwise," said Richards. "There is an incredible amount of parity in the conference.
"One of the reasons we did so well is that we had good results against the teams around us (in the standings) last year. We beat Western, Central, Toledo and Buffalo, and we tied at EMU. Basically, we beat the teams we needed to beat.
"But, we lost to each of the three teams ahead of us, and we also struggled against the bottom teams. There's your argument for parity right there.
"In fact, there isn't a game out there that I can point to and say, 'that's a win.' We will just take each game as it comes, and hopefully come out on top."
FINAL THOUGHTS
It has been an up-and-down -- or perhaps a down-and-up -- six years since the inception of the Falcon women's soccer program. The team has reached the MAC Tournament three times, and has won a quarterfinal-round match each time. But, in the other three seasons, the team has struggled.
Richards and his team know that a solid performance in 2003 would give the Falcons back-to-back successful seasons for the first time in program history, and would go a long way toward helping the Brown and Orange become a perennial MAC title contender.
"In my first year (2000), we were very successful," said Richards. "And, in some ways, we suffered a backlash the next year. Even though we were still talented, the expectations were high, not only from ourselves but from other teams as well.
"When things started to go wrong toward the end of the (2001) season, it was very hard to recover.
"We bounced back last year, and we need to do well this season, just to reestablish ourselves as a force. It is important that we do not become complacent.
"Even though we have some lofty goals, our basic goals must be to have a winning season and go to the (MAC) postseason tournament.
"We know the MAC schedule is the bread and butter. It doesn't matter how we do outside the conference. If we don't win our MAC games, we won't go postseason. If we don't go postseason, we can't advance to the NCAAs. So, the MAC is the be-all and end-all."
Richards feels that the leadership from his upperclass players will greatly aid the Falcons in having a solid season, and setting up the team for several successful years to come.
"We have excellent leadership from our co-captains, Carrie and Kasey," said the head coach. "And, we have a very strong junior class, which was really our first recruiting class. We feel that, with this leadership, we can start to make some waves over the next two seasons.
"Heading into our fourth year (at BGSU), Ashlee and I feel that the program is headed in the right direction. We really want to continue building the program and ensure that the BGSU team continues the winning tradition we have started."
