2002 Outlook

01/01/00

-

The 2002 William and Mary soccer squad is eager to hit the field for the start of the season, which brings eight new faces to the program.


The College should be ready though, as long time head coach John Daly welcomes back a solid nucleus of veterans who advanced to the second round of the 2001NCAA Tournament.

Despite losing four starters, including outstanding goalkeeper, Courtney Owen, William and Mary returns an experienced and versatile squad for 2002, its twenty-first year as a varsity sport.

“Courtney, Janet (Sury), Jordan (Krieger) and Avery (Willis) will all be greatly missed, as will Erin Dixon who was one of two backup goalkeepers to Owen last season,”says Daly.

“Leadership will be a key factor this fall and captains Catherine Pacilio and Franny Swajkoski, along with fellow seniors Lara Pawlow and Joanne Elston, will provide tremendous leadership,” says Daly. “We will also have a deep and experienced junior class, one that includes reigning CAA Player of the Year Tara Flint and Lindsey Vanderspiegel, who was the MVP of the CAA Tournament last season after scoring the game winning goal in the championship game,” says the Tribe mentor.

Nikki Villott, who started the final three matches last season after Owen was injured, will assume the role of number one goalkeeper after two years of being a backup. As a junior with big match experience, Villott is ready to step in at the number one spot in the net for the College. “Nikki has the composure and experience to be an excellent last line of defense,” says Daly. “She had a very good spring, turning in some fine performances against the likes of the WUSA’s New York Power, the University of Florida and Penn State, conceding a total of only two goals in those three games. Providing not only cover but a challenge will be freshmen Katie Belk, from Richmond, Virginia and Jenna Sommer from Midlothian.”

The back line will center around Pacilio and sophomore Keri Gordon, while Pawlow, a tough defender, continues to be one of Daly’s most consistent performers and will be a fixture in the back four. Elston should be the final cog in the machine with Susanne Huntington, Gibby Eppler and freshman Brennan Marsallo all in challenging positions. Mary Platz recovered well from knee surgery and a sophomore transfer from the College of New Jersey, Shannon Mosier, will also challenge for time.

The Tribe will have its strongest midfield in years with the likely combination of Flint, Swajkoski, Vanderspiegel, and Emily Davis, a quick and tenacious midfielder. Challenging them will be Kristen Wolfer, Ali West, Rebecca Sowden, Kim Stokes and Anna Pawlow, the younger sister of the Tribe’s senior defender.

Up front, the Tribe must replace its entire attack, which was lost due to graduation. However, through recruiting and a key transfer, the Tribe should be very dangerous, having landed a prized goal scorer, Taline Tahmassian, from Langley, Virginia. Tahmassian won a national championship last fall with Santa Clara, but decided to transfer, choosing the Tribe over a host of interested schools. Tahmassian scored eight goals for Santa Clara last season, two of which went for game winners.

A member of the U.S. under-17 squad last summer, Tahmassian is a brilliant finisher. She will join Erica Cooper, who had an outstanding spring, Colleen Knight and freshmen Andrea Barschdorf and Lydia Sturgis in supplying the goal power for the Tribe. Barschdorf is recovering from knee surgery, while Sturgis is coming off a state championship-winning season with her Nease (Jacksonville, Florida) high school team. Sturgis recorded 42 goals and 51 assists as Nease won its first state championship.

The College’s 2002 schedule is one of the strongest in years, thanks to the four new schools who joined the Colonial Athletic Association schedule this season.

The CAA welcomes Delaware, Drexel, Hostra and Towson to the fold with Hostra and Drexel visiting Williamsburg this fall. Other home conference matchups are with George Mason, Old Dominion and James Madison. The road games are against UNC Wilmington, VCU, Delaware and Towson.

The non-conference schedule is challenging, with Virginia and Pepperdine supplying the opposition in the Nike/Tribe Invitational. The Tribe will open the season at Georgetown before taking on Virginia Tech at Busch Field. The Tribe will then welcome Alabama to Busch Field. Next will be UNC Greensboro and Illinois at the George Mason Tournament before a tough road trip to play against West Virginia and Maryland.

Former Tribe standout Julie Cunningham-Shackford will bring her Princeton Tigers to Busch Field for an October matchup. Of its ten games out of conference seven will be against teams that participated in the 2001 NCAA tournament.

“I think we will be respectable again this fall” says Daly.

With a returning cast of solid and experienced veterans combined with a group of talented newcomers, the Tribe should be a major force in the CAA and in the NCAA’s this season. null