No one would have blamed women’s soccer coach Steve Springthorpe and his group of largely inherited players if it had taken them some time to settle into a rhythm last season.
But the Pack made significant strides in its first year under the new coaching staff. The team finished 8-9-2 overall and notched its first two conference wins in three years, including an upset over Virginia, ranked No. 14 at the time. It just missed out on the final seed in the ACC Championship, which Springthorpe said gives the team something to work toward.
“Ultimately, we hope we improve year after year,” Springthorpe said. “It was a transition year last year. It took a lot of learning and we felt good with how we progressed. But this year, we certainly hope we’re going to take it to a higher level and reach some of the goals we didn’t hit last year.”
State will take its first step toward getting another crack at the postseason Friday when it hosts Texas at 7 p.m. at Dail Soccer Stadium.
Senior Nadia Aboulhosn said she and her fellow returners have tried to impress upon the incoming freshman how important it is to start off strong.
“We’ve emphasized how much every game counts,” Aboulhosn said. “It’s tough to see the end at the beginning. But then you’re looking back thinking, ‘if only we had won that one game or hadn’t allowed that extra goal, maybe we would have made it.'”
State hasn’t hosted a Big-10 opponent in six years and has never played Texas. The Longhorns went 9-9-3 last year and are expected to finish in the top half of the Big 12.
Other than that, Springthorpe said he knows little about the team since scouting reports aren’t available yet. From what he knows about head coach Chris Petrucelli and what he’s watched on television, he expects it to be a fast-paced, athletic game.
Senior goalkeeper Kim Kern said not having a full scouting report on the opponent isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“We’re kind of going in blind, but I think it’s almost better because we can only worry about ourselves,” Kern said.
Springthorpe and his assistant coaches have been tinkering with positioning, trying to find the best possible formation. One noticeable difference is that junior and last season’s second leading scorer Paige Dugal has been transitioned to center back.
“I hope we can find a way to spread the goal-scoring around a bit and that our other players up top will get better chances,” Springthorpe said.
Sophomore Kara Blosser, last year’s leading scorer with nine goals, will be counted upon again to pace the Pack’s offense. Kern injured her knee during summer workouts and sat out during some of Springthorpe’s increasingly intense workouts, but she is back to full health and expects to start against Texas.
But there’s still plenty of room for some of the 11 incoming freshmen to make a statement against the Longhorns. Springthorpe pointed to local product Claudel Pilon, an outside back, speedy defender Randi Soldat and positionally-sound midfielder Ariela Schreibeis for their standout performances in the only match State has competed in this season, a 5-4 loss in penalty kicks to the Chinese Under-18 National team Aug. 10.
Aboulhosn said the energy level on the team is “higher than usual” in anticipation of the game against Texas and that the team is anxious to see how far its conditioning has brought it.
“After getting through preseason, once you’re through, you’re just so excited. You want to see all your hard work pay off,” Aboulhosn said. “You can’t waste everything you’ve done.”
