Season Preview: Women’s Soccer hoping to continue success from spring
By Wes Mayberry
| 2021 Women's Soccer Schedule |
ADA — Head coach Mark Batman couldn't have asked for much more out of his Ohio Northern women's soccer team last season.
Though the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the season from the fall of 2020 to the spring of 2021, the Polar Bears didn't skip a beat, finishing with a record of 8-1-2 and outscoring their opponents 18-1 en route to finishing as the runner-up in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament. They're hoping that positive momentum continues this fall after a short offseason.
"The girls did great last year. They did really well handling any obstacle that was thrown at them, and I'm hoping this season is going to be the exact same," said Batman, who is entering his 18th season at the helm of the ONU women's soccer program. "We were super young last year, and we're going to be super young again this year with only four seniors, but almost our whole group is back, and we've compensated for what we lost with some incoming kids, and we're hoping that will lead to some wins."
The Polar Bears return 20 letter winners from last season while bringing in seven freshmen and one transfer. Batman described the incoming freshmen as a talented group.
"They're all good. They should all compete for minutes, and we should be fairly deep from seniors to freshmen," he said. "If we can stay healthy, I think we have a chance to win a lot of games. We're excited to give our seniors one last go and hopefully accomplish some new things for the program and keep the standard high."
Here is an overview of the 2021 Ohio Northern women's soccer team:
Goalkeepers
Senior Kristy Catrine (Springboro), a two-year letter winner, returns as the Polar Bears' starting goalkeeper. In the spring, Catrine paired with a stout defense in front of her in helping Northern hold its opponents scoreless all season long until ceding a goal to Otterbein with 6:27 left in the OAC Tournament finals.
Catrine, who set a new school record for consecutive scoreless minutes in a season with 1,007, garnered All-OAC First Team, All-OAC Tournament Team and OAC Goalkeeper of the Year honors in the spring. An Academic All-OAC, CoSIDA Academic All-American, United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-American and three-time OAC Player of the Week honoree as a junior, she is coming off a 31-save season in what was her first year as the team's starting goalkeeper.
"Kristy was lights-out last year. In big games when we needed to her to be big, she was great. I think she's excited about her senior year and building off of what she did last year, and we're excited to see that," Batman said. "Kristy is in a good place. She's feeling good, and she's confident. It should be exciting for her."
The other goalkeeper on the Polar Bears' roster this season is junior transfer Becky Moss (Lebanon/Mount Notre Dame).
Defense
Northern's defense is looking to repeat last season's success but will have to do so following the graduations of a pair of four-year letter winners in Sydney Leshnak and Anne Major. Leshnak was a particular standout, finishing her collegiate career as a three-time OAC Defender of the Year and First Team All-OAC honoree after starting all 78 matches in which she played.
"Sydney and Anne were both great leaders and key members to the program in different ways, but the group we have coming back will pick up right where we left off," Batman said.
The Polar Bears do return some experience in this position group in senior Carissa Beckham (Mason/Mount Notre Dame), junior Jane Reiring (Cincinnati/Country Day) and sophomores Bri Straus (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) and Kylie Cabana (Dexter, Mich.).
Straus, who earned All-OAC First Team honors as a freshman, Beckham and Cabana started all 11 games last season, and Reiring played in all 11 and made four starts.
Beckham is a three-year letter winner and two-time Academic All-OAC honoree who was named Second Team All-OAC as a sophomore and All-OAC honorable mention as a junior.
Cabana finished tied for third on the team with two goals last season while adding a team-high two assists.
Sophomore Kate Helton (Beavercreek), who played in eight games as a reserve last season, and freshman Annalise Jansen (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Northern) round out the position group.
Midfielders
The Polar Bears also graduated a pair of key midfielders after last season in Siena Ward and Abigail Mathews.
Ward, a four-year letter winner, earned All-OAC First Team and All-OAC Tournament accolades last season in which she started all 11 games and led the team with 34 shots and four goals.
Another four-year letter winner, Mathews joined Ward as an All-OAC Tournament selection and was named to the All-OAC Second Team after tallying 17 shots and one goal on the season. She started all 10 games in which she played.
"Those are two key kids that we lost — they were ones we couldn't afford to take off the field when the game was on the line," Batman said. "We're hopeful that the young kids that got some experience in those roles last year will now use that in more of a field presence and leadership role this year, and our incoming kids are more than capable of playing in those roles."
The top returners in the midfield include seniors and three-year letter winners Tara Morris (Monroe) and Maggie Ohmer (Milford) and sophomores Alaina Casey (Beavercreek/Carroll) and Madeline Hall (Lewis Center/Olentangy).
Morris got 10 starts in 11 games last season and notched a pair of goals, and Ohmer finished as an Academic All-OAC honoree after seeing action in nine matches.
Casey and Hall played in all 11 games as freshmen, and the former got two starts and scored one goal.
Junior Lauren Naso (Grosse Ile, Mich.), an Academic All-OAC honoree in 2020, and sophomore Emma Cook (Marysville/Fairbanks) both return after seeing action in four games last season.
Junior Autumn Riedel (Lancaster, N.Y.) and sophomore Jenna Sitarski (Cincinnati/Lakota West) played in three and two games, respectively, a season ago.
Junior Allison Contenza (Rocky River) rejoins the position group this season after missing the entirety of the spring due to an ACL injury. An Academic All-OAC honoree as a sophomore, she played in 22 matches as a freshman and tallied one goal and two assists.
Freshmen Emma Bowman (Novi, Mich./Northville), Alyssa Beckett (Monroe), Libby Johnson (Fairfield), Jess Gast (Dublin/Watterson) and Julia Flanagan (Dublin/Watterson) provide added depth for the Polar Bears' midfield.
Forwards
Northern's top returning forwards include juniors Hailey McGuire (Lone Tree, Colo./Highlands Ranch) and Cienna Kuhn (Elida) and sophomore Jill Roberts (Bellbrook/Carroll).
Roberts started all 11 games as a freshman and finished second on the team with 25 shot attempts en route to being named to the All-OAC honorable mention team.
McGuire, who played in 11 games as a reserve, netted a pair of goals and earned Academic All-OAC recognition last season.
Kuhn was also a key player off the bench, playing in all 11 games and scoring one goal and earning Academic All-OAC status.
Junior Madison Vitt (Uniontown/Lake) and sophomore Kylie Brown (Jamestown, N.Y./Southwestern Central) each played in six games a season ago with the former notching one goal.
"We've got some depth and balance with our forwards, and we have different kids that can score goals, so that should be exciting," Batman said.
Elizabeth Pierce (Liberty Township/Mount Notre Dame) and Alexa Clampitt (Sterling Heights, Mich./Utica) join the position group this year as freshmen.
Schedule
The Polar Bears' 2021 regular-season schedule runs from Sept. 1 to Oct. 30 and includes 18 games.
The season kicks off on Sept. 1 at home against Wittenberg beginning at 7 p.m.
Northern's OAC slate begins Oct. 2 at Marietta. Other conference road games include those at Wilmington, Heidelberg and Capital. The Polar Bears will host OAC foes Baldwin Wallace, Muskingum, John Carroll, Otterbein and Mount Union.
The OAC Tournament is scheduled for Nov. 2-6.
The 2021 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship is set for Dec. 3-4 at UNC Greensboro Soccer Stadium in Greensboro, N.C.