Season Preview: Women’s Soccer poised for more success in 2023 under new head coach

By Wes Mayberry

| 2023 Women's Soccer Schedule | 2023 Women's Soccer Roster |

ADA — Entering his first season as head coach of the women's soccer team at Ohio Northern, Ben Tierney has a talented roster as he looks to lead the Polar Bears to a third straight Ohio Athletic Tournament championship.

Northern posted a 14-2-5 overall record in 2022, winning OAC regular-season and tournament championships en route to advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The campaign also included a 14-game unbeaten streak featuring 12 shutouts, and Northern closed the year having allowed just nine goals across 21 games.

The Polar Bears received votes in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll throughout the 2022 season and open 2023 at No. 27 after returning from a team outing to Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic in late July.

That ranking comes with the Polar Bears returning eight of the nine players who started 18-plus games in 2022, including seniors Kylie Cabana (Dexter, Mich.), Jill Roberts (Bellbrook/Carroll) and Bri Straus (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) and juniors Alyssa Beckett (Monroe), Emma Bowman (Novi, Mich./Northville), Alexa Clampitt (Sterling Heights, Mich./Utica Academy for International Studies), Elizabeth Pierce (Liberty Township/Mount Notre Dame) and Annalise Jansen (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Northern).

Cabana was Northern's most decorated player in 2022, as she earned OAC Defender of the Year, United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-American and College Sports Communicators First Team Academic All-American honors, among other accolades, after starting all 21 games and tallying six goals and six assists. Her assist total tied for fourth-best in the OAC, and her 18 points tied for the team lead and was tied for ninth in the conference. She enters her senior season with 29 points on nine goals and 11 assists.

Straus, a three-time all-OAC selection, is another leader on defense for ONU. Named to the All-OAC First Team as a freshman and to the Second Team the past two seasons, Straus has two goals and two assists in 53 career starts.

Beckett is Northern's top returner on offense after being named OAC Midfielder of the Year, All-Region VII First Team and All-Ohio First Team in 2022 when she started 17 games and finished with a team-high eight goals and matched Cabana with 18 points to go with two assists. The point total ranked tied for ninth in the OAC, and she was tied for eighth in the conference in goals. The two-time First Team All-OAC honoree has 28 career points on 12 goals and four assists in 40 games, including 39 starts.

Roberts joined Beckett on the All-OAC First Team last season, and Bowman was a Second Team selection.

A three-time All-OAC honoree, Roberts was an All-Region VII Second Team and All-Ohio First Team selection in 2022 after posting 15 points on six goals and three assists. She has 31 points on 12 goals and seven assists in 54 career starts.

Bowman recorded a conference-best nine assists to go with one goal in 2022. She has 17 points on two goals and 13 assists in 41 career starts.

Clampitt, Pierce and Jansen combined for 58 starts, six goals, five assists and 17 points last season.

Other returning letter winners include seniors Alaina Casey (Beavercreek/Carroll), Emma Cook (Marysville/Fairbanks) and Kate Helton (Beavercreek), juniors Chandler Clark (Lima/Bath), Julia Flanagan (Dublin/Watterson), Jess Gast (Perrysburg) and Libby Johnson (Fairfield) and sophomores Karsten Bucci (Lewis Center/Olentangy), Haley Cannon (Oregon/Clay), Rileigh Glassburn (Delaware/Olentangy Berlin), Whitney Ho (Hilliard/Davidson), Kiera Kaeser (Ashland), Nora Metcalf (Herndon, Va.), Lindsey Pawlawski (Baden, Pa./North Catholic) and Claire Wiseman (Cincinnati/Saint Ursula Academy).

Northern will turn to a new starter in goal this season following the graduation of 2022 OAC Goalkeeper of the Year Becky Moss. This year's group of goaltenders includes Ho and freshmen Emma Gramke (Dayton/Centerville) and Morgan Moeller (Harrison/Roger Bacon).

The Polar Bears open their 2023 schedule hosting Wittenberg on Sept. 1, and four of their next five games will be against teams ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll — No. 2 Case Western Reserve, No. 25 Mary Hardin-Baylor (Tex.), No. 8 Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) and No. 6 Christopher Newport (Va.).

OAC play begins Sept. 30 at Mount Union, and the 2023 OAC Tournament is scheduled for Oct. 31 to Nov. 4.