2000 Women's Soccer Outlook


The Vanderbilt Commodores return a wealth of starters mixed with more depth this season at every position. Nine starters return to the squad along with five other letterwinners and eight outstanding newcomers. Vanderbilt will be well-balanced at every position this season. Expect scoring to come from several members of the team, not just a few key players.

"We may not have one or two players that will dominate our stat sheets," stated head coach Robbie Church who begins his second season at the helm of the Vanderbilt womenıs soccer team. "I envision us having seven to nine players that can come from all directions and angles to score. Our offensive output will start with our strong defensive players."

The starting lineup will primarily consist of an experienced group of juniors and seniors who have started throughout most of their careers at Vanderbilt. The Commodores' four seniors are starters who have made a combined 208 starts and scored a total of 30 goals and 34 assists for 92 points in just three seasons.

"The four seniors on this team are four of the hardest working players both on and off the field," Church said. "For a team to be successful, you need great senior leadership, and I believe we have that going for us."

Vanderbilt's newcomers are talented in every area. The class is predominantly made up of goal scorers who can play a number of attacking positions.

"They are all very different types of players and will bring diversity to this team," Church stated. "They are also going to provide depth and competition within our team, thus making us better on the practice field and in game situations."

After last year's 9-10-1 record, Vanderbilt's goals are to move back into the national spotlight by making the NCAA Tournament and remain a powerhouse in the Southeastern Conference. Prior to last season, which was filled with crippling injuries and a lack of depth, the Commodores had made five straight NCAA appearances.

The 2000 schedule should help the Commodores get back to the NCAA Tournament.

"We are firm believers of playing a challenging schedule every year and want it to prepare us for the NCAA Tournament," said Church. "We have full intentions of getting back to the tournament this season, and we were disappointed when we didnıt make it last year. This yearıs schedule is going to prepare us so when we do make it, it will be similar to the games we have already played during the regular season."

One third of Vanderbilt's schedule features teams that finished last season in the Top 25. In the beginning months of the season, August and September, the Commodores will face Kentucky, UCLA, Southern Cal and SMU who were all ranked anywhere from 14th-19th in the Final 1999 NSCAA Poll. In September, the Commodores will also meet Furman, a team that made the NCAA Tournament and was on the verge of being nationally-ranked. Vanderbilt meets Florida at home in October in a game that could determine the SEC Eastern Division Champion. The last game of the year will be just as tough as the others, as Vanderbilt closes out the regular season against Duke, who was ranked 22nd at the end of last season.

Forwards
Five Commodores, including Vanderbilt's top two returning scorers, make up this yearıs attack.

Junior Kim Szurovy, a second-team All-SEC honoree last year and sophomore Jen Talavera, are expected to return to their starting roles at forward this season. Szurovy scored six goals and led the team with seven assists last year. With 19 points she tied for the team lead in scoring. Talavera returns as Vanderbilt's top goal scorer as she recorded eight goals, three of them game-winners, in 1999.

Slated to also see time up front and provide relief to the starters are junior Jessie Wolfe and freshmen Laura Hershenow and Erin Higgins. They will provide the depth at the position that was absent from last year's team. Wolfe, who was VU's starting goalkeeper last year, returns to the forward position where she was fourth on the team in scoring her freshman season. Hershenow, the leading scorer on the Colorado Nike Rush Under-17 National Championship team, and Higgins, the offensive player of the year on her high school team, already have the knack for scoring goals.

Midfielders
Expect a lot of Vanderbilt's scoring output to also come from the midfield. There is a lot of depth at the position this year with four returnees and six new additions.

Sophomore Kat Carroll returns to the center midfield position where she tallied four assists and one goal her rookie year. Joining Carroll will be freshman standout Jennifer Lewis. Lewis, a NSCAA High School All-American and member of the Under-18 U.S. National Team for the last two years, is outstanding in the air and a great ball winner. Hershenow, when not a forward, and senior Kate Elia, primarily a defender, may make their way into the center of the midfield as starters. Elia experimented at the position during the spring season and had great success.

At outside midfielder, senior Katie Stegall is the top returnee with 19 starts in 20 games in 1999. Newcomer Emily Wilpers will be opposite Stegall in the midfield. Wilpers will provide speed and the ability to beat players one-on-one on the flank. Competing for playing time as outside midfielder are junior Natalie Taylor, sophomore Laura Paine and freshmen Michelle Bruntlett, who tallied 174 career goals in high school, Tasha Nalywajko, a freshman walk-on, and Higgins.

Defenders
The Commodore defense should be the strength of the 2000 squad with every starter from last season returning to the line-up. Seniors Laurie Black and Elia are the leaders of the defense.

Black, the team's stopper, assisted on four goals last season and has nine in her career as one of VU's top defenders. She was a second-team All-SEC performer her sophomore year and hopes to regain form after battling injuries last season. She will be backed by sophomore Lizzy Johnson and freshman Kendra SaSa, also a member of the National Champion Colorado Nike Rush team.

Elia, who tallied nine points last season, returns to the outside back position along with sophomore Kelly Kulsrud. Kulsrud was one of three players to start every game last season. Look for Stegall, sophomore Marissa OıLeary and walk-on freshman Tayler Wann to gain playing time in the defense.

Rounding out the VU defense is junior sweeper Lindaliz Arauz, considered to be one of the best sweepers in the SEC. She earned second-team All-SEC honors for her efforts last year.

Goalkeeper
The Commodores were hoping to welcome the return of junior Lauren Whitt in the net. However, after sustaining a season-ending ACL tear in the first game of last season, she tore the ACL in her other knee this summer. Whitt will once again miss the entire season.

Taking Whitt's place in goal is freshman Stacee Sproul. Sproul will be backed up by Wolfe. Wolfe did an outstanding job last year in a position that she volunteered to play, since Vanderbilt did not have a true back up goalkeeper. Wolfe developed into a great goalie and put up respectable numbers last season with a 1.54 goals against average in 17 starts. She also helped the Commodores record six shutouts.