Sunday, August 22
Davidson, N.C
2:00 p.m.
Davidson College Athletics
vs
UNC Wilmington
Matchup of Two NCAA Tourney Teams; Davidson Opens Up 2010 Season on Sunday
8/19/2010 10:37:04 AM | Women's Soccer
Gavin McFarlin -- Assistant SID
DAVIDSON, N.C. — The Davidson women's soccer team, the reigning Southern Conference Tournament champions, will start their quest for another title and a trip back to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, Aug. 22, when they open the 2010 season at home against UNC Wilmington at 2 p.m.
UNCW, like Davidson, also advanced to its first NCAA Tournament a season ago after winning the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament last year.
The Wildcats begin their 22nd year of women's soccer and will be looking to continue their winning ways of late. They have tallied six straight winning seasons, hitting the 10-win mark in all six years that included twice going for a school-record tying 14 wins in 2005 and 2007.
In anticipation of the 2010 season, below is a look at the season preview for the Wildcats this year...
2010 Preview
Davidson enters the 2010 season looking to carry over the momentum from a very successful 2009 campaign that saw the Wildcats win the program's fourth Southern Conference Tournament Title and earn their first trip to the NCAA Tournament. In addition, they had their sixth straight winning season and sixth straight 10-win season.
The Wildcats' roster features a nice balance of veterans and fresh new talent. With four seniors returning from last year's 12-10-1 squad, the 'Cats are expect to again be in the upper of the SoCon. They were picked to finish fourth in this year's SoCon coaches poll.
“I was so thrilled and proud of the team last year,” said head coach Greg Ashton, who is entering his seventh season with a 72-42-10 record. His 72 wins are second-most in program history. “It was a privilege to be at the NCAAs and representing Davidson College for the first time in program history, and I couldn't be more proud of the team last season.”
With the return of 16 letterwinners from last year's squad, plus the addition of nine newcomers, the 'Cats have a solid foundation on which to build an even stronger 2010 campaign. Davidson will be seeking to capture its second straight SoCon tournament title after finishing 7-3-1 in league play, which was good for fourth place and the last spot in the tournament a season ago, where the 'Cats then earned the program's fourth title by taking home a 1-0 double-overtime victory over College of Charleston in the finals.
“With a number of starters returning and the addition of a solid freshmen class, I am optimistic that we can have another strong season,” said Ashton. “I think we have the talent and depth in our squad to be one of the top teams again in the conference.“
Defense
As has been the case the past few years, Davidson sported one of the best defenses last year, finishing
“We have an excellent foundation on the defensive side and it definitely will be one of our strengths,” Ashton said.
Junior Mary Marshall Meredith, who started four of her 12 games, will be looked upon to fill one of the backline spots with Flink and Timboe.
Fellow classmate Claire Naisby will also look to work into the rotation after seeing action in seven games. Sophomore Julie Calhoun will also provide the defense with valuable depth after she got into 16 games last year and started three of those contests. She also registered her first career goal at Richmond, Sept. 18.
Of the freshmen class, Lindsay Blum and Meg Sanborn will be looked upon to help provide depth after nice prep careers.
Goalkeepers
Returning from a season-ending injury last year will be Christy Carry, who two years ago started 10 games and went 6-2-3 with three shutouts as a freshman.
Senior Beth Peters along with freshman Renae Cairns will provide the Wildcats with plenty of depth.
Midfielders
The middle of the field and forward positions will again have a nice mix of youth and veteran talent with senior duo of Allison Drutchas and Callan Elswick leading the way. Drutchas had a breakout junior campaign with career bests in starts (21), shots (52), goals (3) and points (8).
Joining Drutchas in the middle will be juniors Elizabeth Underwood and Stephanie Gerow, who each
The future bolds well for the Wildcats as sophomore Rachael Barnett and the freshman trio of Kelsey Krueger, Tori Krause, Lauren Swany, Lauren Mihan and Tyler Wilson all add to the depth at the midfield position. Barnett broke onto the scene her first year by getting into 16 games and netting her first collegiate goal, Sept. 6, in a win over Francis Marion.
Forwards
The 'Cats will have to replace a talented senior trio at the forward positions including three-time All-SoCon First Team member Kyri Bye-Nagel. Bye-Nagel finished her career just outside the program's top-five in goals with 29, while assisting on nine other scores for 67 points in 78 games (59 starts).
Blakely Low and Suzanne Sittko rounded out the trio as they combined for 35 goals during their four-year careers and will als need to be replaced. Low was named to the all-league second team last year, while Sittko was a former SoCon Freshman of the Year.
Helping to fill some of the void will be Elswick. The senior, showed her versatility by playing a variety of roles a season ago, and closed out her junior campaign with a career-best two goals and three assists. She started a personal-best 16 games.
Three freshmen will add depth with the addition of Deprise Brazel, Kelsey Krueger and Lauren Mihan.
The Schedule
The 2010 campaign will feature an in-season tournament at College of Charleston with games against Presbyterian College and Big Ten foe Iowa, along with a trip to the state of Texas where the 'Cats will play for the first time in program history, Texas A&M and Southern Methodist. In addition to those games, Davidson will also have non-conference tilts against UNC Wilmington, High Point and cross-county rival Charlotte all in the month of August, to go along with their 11-game slate in the Southern Conference.
Davidson will get the luxury of playing in front of its home crowd early as the Wildcats will play three of the first four games to open 2010 in August at Alumni Stadium, with one of those games being an exhibition against Liberty. A year ago, they sported a 6-3 record at home and are 31-11-4 during the past five seasons.
Visiting Alumni Stadium will be Liberty (Aug. 16 for an exhibition), UNC Wilmington (Aug. 22) and High Point (Aug. 29), with the Seahawks and Panthers each reaching the NCAA Tournament a season ago. The lone away game during the August stretch is just down the road Aug. 27 at 7 p.m. against rival Charlotte, which is coming off a 16-3-2 record.
The next four games to open September has the 'Cats hitting the road, starting with their trip to Texas. They will play at Texas A&M, which is fresh off a trip to the Sweet 16 and return 24 letterwinners from that team, Sept. 9, and then finish out the trip with a game in Dallas against Southern Methodist on the 5th.
Davidson will head to Charleston, S.C. for its next two contests as it plays at the College of Charleston Tournament, Sept. 10-12. The last time the 'Cats played in the CofC Tourney, they took home the 2007 tournament title.
The end of September and all of October has Davidson playing its 11-game SoCon schedule with five of the 11 games being at home.
The SoCon Tournament will return to its eight-team format, with the four higher seeds hosting the first round, Oct. 31. The semifinals and championship game will be hosted by Western Carolina in Cullowhee, N.C., Nov. 5 and 7.
Since 1994, the first year the Wildcats were members of the SoCon, Davidson has gone 16-11 in the conference tournament and taken home the championship title four times — 1994, '95, '96 and 2009.
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