With the arrival of new talent and coaching staff, the Norwich women’s soccer team hopes for a prosperous year on the field this season.
The team started its season Sept. 5 against St. Lawrence University, coming away with an 0-1 record. Since then, it has gone 4-4 with an overall record of 4-5 placing it ninth in the GNAC standings.
The team had a good season in 2008, going 15-5-2 before being knocked out of the NCAA Tournament by Husson (16-4-0).
“I think we’re going to go all the way this year,” said Lisa Esparza, 18, a freshman biology major from Dover, N.H., who plays midfield for the Cadets. The team has a long road ahead of it if it plans on accomplishing that goal.
A major key to having a successful season is the way a team can work together.
“I think the captains have to be good at keeping the team together and making sure there is no cliques and no fighting while keeping us all in line,” said Erin Roper, 18, a freshman business management major from Scarborough, Maine.
“Ya’ll need to get along,” Esparza said. “You need to like each other. It doesn’t necessarily have to be off the field, but on the field you need to be best friends.”
Sports are a very important place for good team chemistry because if a team can’t work together, then it most usually means the failure of a season. “The team needs to be comfortable with each other,” said Nicole Morales, 18, a freshman nursing major from Hauppauge, N.Y., adding, “We need to learn how everyone plays.”
The Cadets have strung together a great group of freshmen players and with four of them starting, learning how one another plays becomes a major part of the building process. “A lot of things that we’ve been working on is team chemistry on and off the field, learning how each other plays,” said Beth Van Parys, the new head coach at Norwich. That means, she said, “Spending time with our system of play and being comfortable with all the roles on the team.”
While the team seems to be coming together nicely, players can still improve on their passing and communication. Above all, said Morales, the team needs to work on its finishing ability and capitalizing on opportunities.
The strength of the team seems to be coming from the defense, an effective goalie and a pretty good team overall.
“We have some dominating players,” Esparza said, adding that “everybody really knows what they’re doing and what their role is.”
Part of the team’s success may be coming in part from a new coaching staff.
Prior to the season, Norwich University hired a new coaching staff to guide the Cadets through the upcoming season(s). Beth Van Parys, the new head coach for the Cadets, was recently an assistant at Wagner College in Staten Island, N.Y. Van Parys is entering her fourth year of coaching soccer and her first as a head coach. She played soccer and basketball at Allegheny College where she was named to the all-conference team twice. She ranked among the top five for Allegheny in shutouts, goals against average and saves. As a senior, Van Parys was named captain of the team.
Van Parys brings with her to Norwich the desire and will to succeed while coaching a Cadet squad that has the ability to do great things.
“We have a group of girls who put forth a lot of effort, and enjoy playing together and working to be successful,” Van Parys said, adding, “We have strong leadership with a core of upperclassmen who are taking in the freshmen and have created a ease in the transition for the freshmen.”
Team captains who have been a strong part of leadership include seniors Don Mcnulty, Ashley Sandford and junior Nicki Hunsicker.
The Cadets don’t seem to have any problems with getting along with each other. “Team dinners are good team bonding and away games, just traveling on the bus together,” Roper said. Not one player on the team seems to have a stuck-up attitude when it comes to working together. “When we were running our 120’s and people were struggling to finish, we had people who finished before running with them,” Esparza said,. “I’ve definitely seen improvement in the way that we’ve been playing together.”
Van Parys said that a group who is committed to one ultimate goal is a way of showing how a team is bonding with itself. Time together while off the field, community service and team dinners are great team bonding techniques, Van Parys said.