With the new season just around the corner, the women’s soccer team says it is set to turn itself around from a tough 2012 season.
Although the Red lost seven players to graduation, including dynamic forward Maneesha Chitanvis, the team is adding eight freshman and one transfer for the upcoming season.
“I feel the recruiting class will bring a strong competitive mentality to the team and is capable of providing a significant number of starters right away,” head coach Patrick Farmer said. “It will make for an exciting beginning to the season, because each of the incoming freshmen are capable of competing for significant roles in the team immediately.”
New field players include Kailey Joyce, Taylor Wright, Shanay Fischer, Aimee Tavzel, Ellie Crowell, Dempsey Banks and Meera Marhoefer, while Dana Daniels and Kelsey Tierney are the new goalkeepers.
“Having been the first class to be entirely recruited by head coach Patrick Farmer, they know what he expects without any surprises,” defender Morgan Zaidel said. “[They] are on board to put in 110 percent effort all the time, a mentality that we greatly need, and coming to us from good club programs, they also have strong technical abilities in each of their respective positions.”
Last season, the squad finished last in the Ivy League division with a 1-14-1 overall record and a winless 0-6-1 Ivy record.
“[It is] both as a team and a personal goal to decrease the number of goals other teams score on corner kicks and set plays, as well as finish our season at at least .500 and in the top half of the Ivy League division,” Zaidel said.
Preseason training for the Big Red started Friday, giving the team only a couple of weeks to prepare for the opening season.
“Players come to preseason almost 80 percent game fit because our preseason is three weeks shorter than the other D1 schools we play earlier in the season,” Zaidel said. “We must spend our short time together, before our exhibition match, on the ball and understanding how our new teammates play so we can be more cohesive.”
In the next few weeks the team will work tirelessly to be as prepared as possible for the beginning of the season. The first official game is an away match against Sacred Heart on Sept. 6.
“It will be an intense couple of weeks for the players,” Farmer said. “I think that they will all see that they can be on the forefront for changing the Cornell women’s soccer program and are excited to get started.”
Original Author: Marissa Velasquez