Women's Soccer Looks Forward to 2015 Season

Photo by: Wendy Badman

Women's Soccer Looks Forward to 2015 Season

8.7.15 | Women's Soccer

PHILADELPHIA - After a tremendous 2014 season, the Temple women's soccer team will be looking for even more in 2015. Last season, the Owls finished 11-8-1 overall and 3-5-1 in the American Athletic Conference. With their 11 wins, the 2014 team tied the program mark for wins, held also by the 1991 and 2003 teams.

This season, the goal is to just keep growing as a team and make sure that when American Athletic Conference play begins in the later part of the season, the team is ready to show their true colors.

"The expectation for this season is to build upon the success we had last year. We felt like we took a huge step forward last year. It might sound greedy, but we didn't feel like the games we played in October really showed what we were capable of," said head coach Seamus O'Connor. "We had just picked up a couple of major injuries by then and we didn't have the depth to overcome those injuries."

This season, the Owls will face a tough home schedule, playing 13 of their 19 matches at Ambler Sports Complex. To start the season, Temple will have a four-game home stretch, opening their slate on August 21 against Fairleigh Dickinson, and then welcoming Delaware State, Loyola, and Rider. The Owls won't be on the road until September 4, when they visit city rivals, Penn. After hosting Lehigh, the Owls hit the road again on September 11 when they travel to New Hampshire. Another three-game home stretch against Binghamton, La Salle and Saint Joseph's rounds out the Owls' non-conference schedule.

American Athletic Conference play opens at UCF, who opens the season ranked seventeenth in the NSCAA National Preseason Division I Rankings. The Owls will also play on the road at USF, before traveling back north to visit UConn.

Four of the team's last six games will be held at home. At Ambler, the Owls will battle Cincinnati, East Carolina, SMU, before the home finale against Houston on October 25. Temple also visits Tulsa and Memphis during the final month of the season.

The American Athletic Conference part of the schedule, however, is one of the things that O'Connor sees as a challenge for the team.

"I think the biggest challenge this year is the schedule. It wasn't kind to us, but we have to play whatever comes our way. The three teams from our conference that made it to the NCAA tournament, those are our first three conference games and they're all on the road so that's tough. Our backs are going to be against the wall for three games, it's hard to go on the road and play on their field with their fans and look to get a result. It'll be important for us to stick together."

Once one of the youngest team in the American Athletic Conference with only four upperclassmen, the Owls have now cycled to a veteran squad. The team boasts nine seniors, five juniors, six sophomores, and seven freshmen. The leadership on the team comes from those seniors, who O'Connor has trusted to keep the players together.

"I don't have to look for leadership out of the seniors, they just do it. I don't have to ask for it. They've been leading the program since they were sophomores, to be honest, so they know how I operate and they run the program. So there's little outside of actual coaching that I do."

The only Owl to depart from last season's team was senior defenseman Alyssa Kirk, who leaves big shoes to fill. Kirk finished the 2014 season with three goals, four assists and 11 points. Now, the "biggest question going into preseason" according to O'Connor is who will fill that spot.

"We have a lot of girls that could fill that position and it's going to be a battle. It's a huge position for us to fill. But, the great thing is they'll have Taylor Trusky and Erin Lafferty beside them, who have thousands and thousands of minutes and a ton of experience. So, whoever we put at that position will have them there to talk them through the game and even if they make a mistake, they'll cover for them."

Lafferty led the team in minutes played (1,848) in the 20 games she started in, while Trusky logged 1,629 minutes played and two assists in 19 games started. In addition to Lafferty and Trusky, senior Kaylee Harner also saw significant playing time, compiling 1,682 minutes played and also notching a pair of assists. Senior Paula Jurewicz was sidelined at the beginning of conference play with a season-ending injury, starting in only 13 games, but will be expected to be a major factor in this season. Lafferty and Jurewicz, along with seniors Kelly Farrell and Shauni Kerkhoff, were named to the Big Red Shootout All-Tournament Team.

After a great Spring season, junior Taylor Matsinger, who started nine game, taking eight shots with three on goal, will make the transition to a defensive position. Junior Morgan Elliott, sophomore Cait Jackson, who returns to the team after injury, and newcomers Kelcie Dolan, Katie McCoy, and Olivia Novak will all be looking for time on the defensive line for the Owls this season.

Redshirt-sophomore Kayla Cunningham was one of the key forwards in the 2014 season, starting in all 20 games with four goals and one assist for nine points. For her breakout season, Cunningham was a unanimous selection to the American Athletic Conference All-Rookie team. Sophomore Gabriella McKeown started in 10 games last season, taking 37 shots, which was second on the team, with one assist. Senior Paige Rachel will return to the field for the Owls, after missing the entire 2014 season due to injury, while senior Brendi Ernst and newcomer Lauren Benner will add depth to the forward position.

Senior Kelly Farrell will be making the change from forward in 2014 to midfield in 2015. In 2014, she led the team with nine goals and two assists for 20 points in the 18 games she started. Farrell returns after a season that saw her lead the team in shots and shots on goal, while being named to the American Athletic Conference second-team. Senior Shannon Senour also returns to anchor the midfield, after starting 19 games and tying for first on the team with four assists.

Another player who is coming off a great Spring season, Elana Falcone, will be someone that the Owls will be looking to for a key role in the midfield. Also returning to the mix at midfield are redshirt-junior Gina DiTaranto and junior Elaine Byerley. DiTaranto started in nine games, with four goals, including game-winnings goals against Binghamton and St. Joseph's. Byerley started in all twenty games, scoring a goal against Rider. Delia Trimble returning from an injury which kept her out last year will provide depth in the midfield.

Sophomore Victoria Dutille will miss the season with an injury. Newcomers Juliet Esposito and Sarah McGlinn will round out the midfielder position. Esposito won the New Jersey US Club Soccer Cup and was a four-year starter on the Camden Catholic varsity team. McGlinn joins Temple from across the bridge in Cherry Hill, where she led Cherry Hill West in goals, assists and points in her last three years of high school and was three-time all-conference.

The goalkeeper position is firm in the hands of Kerkhoff, who ended the 2014 season on the American Athletic Conference second team all-conference list. Kerkhoff finished the season with a 1.13 goals against average, .775 save percentage, 79 saves, and six shutouts on the season. Kerkhoff ranks first all-time in save percentage (.806), goals against average (1.15), and shutouts (17). She was also named the American Athletic Conference Goalkeeper of the Week twice last season. Freshman Jordan Nash is coming off winning a National ECNL Championship with her PDA team and will compete for the starting position with Kerkhoff. Nash was a four-year start at St. Rose High School, where she helped her team win state sectional championships in 2012 and 2013 and was selected first team all-conference.

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