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News
Lady Cougars Ready to Kick off 2010
Soccer Season
written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (9-6-2010) - After
capping off a successful first decade of the
program's existence with its first trip to
the NAIA National Championship Opening Round
last year, the Mount Vernon Nazarene
University women's soccer team will look to
continue the program's winning ways when the
2010 season gets under way.
The Lady Cougars posted an 11-6-2 record
last season and captured the team's
first-ever American Mideast Conference
Tournament championship to cap off a decade
of excellence that saw MVNU go 145-67-9
(.676 winning percentage) with two National
Christian College Athletic Association
national titles and four conference
championships.
Head coach Daniel Seiffert will enter his
second season at the helm after a memorable
first campaign with the Lady Cougars. With a
good mix of 18 returners and seven new
players, the roster has a nice combination
of experience and enthusiasm.
"Our team this year has a good mix of
seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen,
said Seiffert. "Each one of them has high
expectations for the season. When we came
into preseason camp, I was very impressed
with our overall fitness level and our
intensity throughout the preseason has been
terrific. It is clear that they have worked
hard on our summer fitness program. Those
efforts and their strong work ethic are a
testament to their desire to hit the ground
running.
The Lady Cougars will be anchored
defensively by senior goalkeeper Jenessa
Loewen, a four-year starter with 23 career
shutouts and a 1.04 goals against average.
Loewen was an AMC Second Team selection last
year after posting 10 shutouts and a 0.81
goals against average. Freshman Lindsey Blue
will serve as her back-up in goal.
The MVNU backline of seniors Denθe Stentz
and Jamie Blair and juniors Kelci Rhodes and
Heidi Moeckel will look to work with Loewen
to try to top last year's team shutout total
of 10 in 19 matches. Sophomore Stacy
Culbertson, junior Lindsey Shaffer, and
freshmen Rachel Walters and Jackie Mourne
will also compete for play time on defense.
In the midfield, the Lady Cougars will be
led by senior Challyn Dobson, juniors Erin
Washington and Sarah Buehler, and sophomore Rachel Elder (two assists). Dobson
returns to MVNU after starting every match
as a freshman for the Lady Cougars in 2007,
while Elder was a key contributor and
started 11 matches in the midfield last
year. Junior Ashley Smithberger and freshmen
Rachel Coyne and Amy Weaver will add depth
in the middle.
The MVNU attack will be led by senior
Jessica Estep, sophomore Jessica Linger, and
junior Courtney Ricker. Estep ranks fourth
in school history in both goals (52) and
points (117) and led the Lady Cougars with
10 goals a year ago when she was an AMC
First Team pick and an NCCAA Honorable
Mention All-American. Linger had four goals
and two assists in her rookie campaign,
while Ricker finished with one goal and two
assists as she battled injuries. Junior
Amanda Woods and sophomore Haley Sparks
(four goals and one assist) will join junior
Andrea Fisher and freshman Sara Lipstraw at
the forward position as they each compete
for time.
"Our strengths will be our heart,
determination, and cohesiveness, said
Seiffert. "This is a close-knit group and
they get along very well. They have been
working very hard for each other throughout
the preseason and I expect that will
continue.
After a preseason trip to Canada where MVNU
played exhibition matches against two
Canadian schools ranked in the Top 10, the
Lady Cougars will get their season under way
on September 7 with a non-conference match
at Urbana University. The team will follow
that with matches against Cincinnati
Christian University and NAIA No. 19 John
Brown (Ark.) University in the Cougar
Classic and will later have non-conference
matches against Huntington (Ind.)
University, Asbury (Ky.) University,
Georgetown (Ky.) College, and Ohio State
University-Newark.
MVNU, which received votes in the NAIA
preseason poll, will also look to compete
for the AMC title. Houghton (N.Y.) College
is once again the preseason favorite and is
ranked No. 22 in the NAIA poll, while
Roberts Wesleyan (N.Y.) College, Notre Dame
College, Malone University, Cedarville
University, Walsh University, Daemen (N.Y.)
College, Ursuline College, Point Park (Pa.)
University, and Carlow (Pa.) University will
make for a challenging conference schedule.
"Once again, the AMC is expected to be very
strong and we have a strong non-conference
schedule as well, said Seiffert. "We feel
that the trip to Canada not only prepared us
well to face strong competition, but it also
helped us bond as a team. All in all, our
mettle will definitely be tested this season
and we will use this to help us prepare for
postseason play.
"Most importantly, we always want to honor
God with our very best, Seiffert added.
"Our primary goal is to get better every
time that we touch the field whether that be
for a training session or a match. This
group will continue to work hard day-by-day
and week-by-week with an eye toward battling
for championships in November and December.
Lady Cougars' 2010
schedule:
http://www.mvnu.edu/sports/nazwsc/news/results.asp
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