Women's soccer works now to repeat its success

After a long day, Katie Sanders, a junior architecture major, heads down to Plumley Armory to work out.

"We are working really hard in order to achieve our goals," said Sanders, 20, from Murrieta Calif. "We know we have to in order to replace all the seniors we are losing."

Despite seven seniors, including two goalies, leaving this year the Norwich women's soccer team hopes to replicate its success from the previous season.

The Lady Cadets finished last season with a record of 13-9 overall and 8-4 in the Greater North Atlantic Conference (GNAC).

But they lost in the GNAC final 1-0 to Lasell. Even with the loss the Cadets made the playoffs, but lost in the first round 3-2 to UMass-Boston.

"We know we have a lot of work to do in order to improve on last season," said Bianca Bogda, 20, a sophomore biology major from Cranston, R.I.

"A lot of players are stepping up right now, and we know that even more will have to step up for us to get back to where we were," said Liz Chapdelaine, 18, a freshman biology major from Somerset, Mass.

The team knows that it is going to need a big contribution from its younger players to achieve its goal for next season.

"We have a good recruiting class coming in and we are going to need them to play well right away," said Erin Ropper, 19, a sophomore business management major from Scarborough, Maine.

"Our goal is to win the GNAC and make a run in the playoffs this year," Sanders said, "We want to improve every year as a team."

Players agree they need to work on their team chemistry on the field.

"We need to work on it, we know that it is the most important thing for a team to have on the field," Chapdelaine said. "To be able to know where each other are on the field is such a big advantage."

The Cadets recently had a scrimmage at Castleton. The Cadets lost, but players say they got a lot out of the game.

"We were able to see how our players handle certain situations, which really helps with our chemistry," said Bogda.

The Cadets open their season on the road at Johnson State on Sept. 1. Even with the summer ahead of them the Cadets can't wait to begin their season.

"It is going to be a lot of fun next season to see our team grow on the field and make a run at the GNAC title," said Sanders.

"We know this is the year to show the GNAC who we are and that we can consistently win year in and year out no matter who we lose," Bogda said.