KSU’s women’s soccer team is prepared to improve on its 10-8-1 finish from a season ago.
The Owls are currently gearing up for their first exhibition game against Wofford University at the newly named Fifth Third Bank Stadium, which is scheduled to take place on Aug. 9. Head coach Rob King noted they had some success the previous year, despite finishing with a first round loss to North Florida in the Atlantic-Sun Championship Tournament. King feels that his team has a much better chance this year.
“I think we laid out the ground work for this year, with our returning players, and we brought in a lot of good players this year as well,” King said. “I think we laid the foundation and we’re ready to get started this year with a very challenging schedule.”
KSU is slated to play in two tournaments before A-Sun Conference play officially begins. The Owls will first travel to the University of Tennessee on Aug. 23, where they will match-up against Tennessee Tech and powerhouse schools like Oklahoma in the UT Vols Tournament. The Owls biggest test will then take place at the Carolina Nike Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Aug. 30, where they will face Duke, Georgia State, Mississippi, Samford, Troy, and the defending national champion North Carolina.
King noted that beginning the season with really tough opponents like North Carolina will certainly give his players a real test, and the results
will help with any needed adjustments going forward.
“Regardless how that game goes, we take a lot of positives from that game, and it’s one that after you play the National Champions, you really have got nothing to fear with anybody else you play,” King said.
King expressed a lot of confidence in both the returning veterans and incoming freshman in a previous interview. As for the freshman newcomers, there will be eight new pairs of legs to add to KSU’s rotation. Newcomers include forwards Shannon Driscoll and Maggie Gaughan, midfielders Suzanne Arafa and Monica Herrera, flank midfielder/forward Cassidy Kemp and goalkeeper Olivia Sturdivant.
Midfielder Katrina Frost will enter her junior season as the leader of the Owls offensive attack. Frost was an Atlantic Sun Conference first-teamer as a redshirt sophomore. She scored 10 goals and recorded three assists for the Owls’ offense. Midfielder Kelsey Barr returns for her senior season after making the All-A-Sun second team last year. Barr led the Owls last year in minutes played (1,175) and played in every single minute of conference play.
Danielle Grey burst onto the scene as a freshman and ended her first season with the Owls as an All-A-Sun freshman team member.
“We’ve got an outstanding group of 2013’s coming in, and what better way to start than by showing them the gold standard for women’s college soccer,” King said when referring to their matchup with North Carolina. According to King, the hard work and commitment have already been present in the offseason, and with an upcoming match against National Champion North Carolina in several weeks, that is all the motivation they need to have a successful season.
KSU opens Aug. 23 against Tennessee Tech.
