Women's soccer looks for return to GNAC

The Norwich women's soccer team has high expectations to repeat its success from last year after a strong preseason, according to players and coaches.

The 2010 Cadets went 13-9 including being a GNAC (Greater Northern Atlantic Conference) finalist and earning a Div. III NCAA tournament berth. According to Head Coach Beth Van Parys, the players feel they can improve on those results.

"Our team came into camp in good shape and I feel they were prepared to improve on last year's results," said Van Parys. "We have strong leaders who know what it takes to win on this level."

The two captains this year are senior Kacey Abbriano and junior Brittany Casey and they have transitioned seamlessly into the role of leaders.

"Kacey and Brittany were leaders for us last year and now that they are captains it only reflects all of their hard work that they have put in over the years," said Nikki Szczenpanski, 22, a senior biology major from Auburn, N.Y. "Kacey was captain of lacrosse last year to get her ready for this role and Brittany is stepping up in a big way as a junior to lead the team."

Assistant Coach Julie Steese credits the other five seniors who have also become leaders. "They have done a great job leading and showing the freshmen how to handle college practices and dealing with not just practices but the college lifestyle as well," said Steese.

Both coaches and players agree that the team's expectations were raised by the players' physical fitness. "Everyone came in camp fit and ready to go which allowed us to get off to a fast start during preseason," Szczepanski said.

Steese credited off-the-field activities for helping bring the team closer. "We did some team bonding activities such as helping out the hurricane flood victims in Northfield, and we went to Greyhound Adoption Kennel and the girls got to help out the dogs at the kennel. It was a good experience for us to come together as a team," said Steese.

Szczepanksi said the toughest part of preseason was getting used to the new players on the field and regaining the chemistry the team had last year. "Our biggest area of improvement is our field strategy and communication," she said. "We are only getting better and the more we play with each other and get used to how we play together the better we will get."

The main goal of preseason was to get better every day and that is what Van Parys stressed to her players. "We want to pick up where we left off last year. It was a disappointment to lose in the GNAC Championship but I feel we can build off that and get back to that point in the season. Our goal is to improve each and every day and carry over what we do in practices to the games. If we can do that I have all the confidence in the world that we will be a successful team."

She also credits a tough conference schedule that allows her team to be challenged each and every game. "Our conference continues to get stronger and stronger every game. I feel that makes us work harder as a team and presents more challenges. LaSell, Emerson and Suffolk are always tough games and we need to play our best to beat them. If we play with intensity every game I feel we will be near the top of the conference and battling for the GNAC Championship," the head coach said.

Even with the loss of eight seniors the team feels it is capable of getting back to the GNAC championship and NCAA tournament. "We lost eight seniors but we brought in five talented freshmen and everyone on our team wants to win. We have big roles to fill but we are confident that we can do that and reach our goal of winning the GNAC and returning to the NCAA Div. III tournament," said Szczepanksi.