By Malika Andrews |
The women’s soccer team began the season nationally ranked No. 11. Less than two months later, at the beginning of conference play, the Pilots have dropped to No. 100.
The Pilots entered conference play with an overall record of 3-5-2.
Junior forward Noelle La Prevotte attributes this to the youth of the team. At the end of the 2013-2014 season, the Pilots lost eight team members. There are six upperclassmen on the team, only five of which are healthy enough to play.
“It is a lot of learning,” La Prevotte said. “We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy transition and so a lot of people have been asking why the results are not what we wanted, but it is a lot of growing and a lot of trying to integrate new players into the team and our style of play.”
12 of the 19 players on the roster are returners. Five of these returners are upperclassmen, including three seniors and two juniors. For medical reasons, senior defender Lorielle McCluskie and freshman Jess Kennedy are not cleared to play.
Comparatively, No. 1 ranked Stanford has 18 returners on their roster of 24 players and eight are upperclassmen. No. 2 ranked North Carolina State has 17 returning players out of their 24 total and 10 of which are upperclassmen.
In the WCC, the only team ranked in the NCAA top 25 is Pepperdine at No. 8. They have a total roster of 26 players with 19 returners and 10 upperclassman.
While having a young team is a factor in overall performance, these numbers indicate that the Pilots’ seven newcomers are not their only hurdle this season.
Head Coach Garrett Smith examined the team on a fundamental level and played with moving players into new positions during the preseason.
“Every year, you have a new team,” Garrett said. “We thought having Bekah (senior Rebekah Kurle) up front might give us a little bit of power and strength up there, but at the end of the day what this team needs is her strength and leadership back in her original position (midfield).”
After beating Pacific and Saint Mary’s to open WCC play, the Pilots currently have a record of 2-0 in the conference. Smith is not surprised with these results and does not see the first two WCC games as a turning point for the season.
“Pacific and Saint Mary’s are outside the top 100, so we are supposed to beat those teams. So I don’t know if this is necessarily a turn around,” Smith said. “We are just doing what we are supposed to do.”
Senior midfielder Emily Sipple attributes their wins to returning to “the Portland style of play,” a system of play focusing on attacking ball possession as opposed to kicking the ball down the field and chasing it. “Portland style of play” zones in on control.
“Honestly, we would have hoped to get a few more wins. Of course right now we definitely need the results, but we really do focus on the performance,” Sipple said. “My expectations were never lowered. We have a lot of pressure on us right now to win. Still, from the start of the season, the goal has always been to win WCC.”
The Pilots have won the WCC seven times in the past ten years. In those seven seasons, they won at least fifteen games per season and lost two total WCC games.
Although it is early in conference play, the Pilots hold the third spot in the WCC behind Pepperdine and Gonzaga. Their next home game will be against Pepperdine on Oct. 24.
For the past nine years, the Pilots have also held the NCAA attendance record for women’s soccer. The student attendance record at Merlo was set at 2,503 against Stanford on Aug. 30. The team sees the student section support as a propellant in their push for another WCC championship.
“We are doing our best. We would love to see fans out there,” La Prevotte said. “The more fans we have there the more we have to fight for. Yes, we fight for ourselves but it is always nice to have Merlo lit up on a Friday night or a Sunday afternoon. Every team needs that, and we are known for having the best fans in the country.”
Malika Andrews is a sports reporter for The Beacon and can be reached at andrewsm17@up.edu or on Twitter @malika_andrews.
