Women's Soccer Looks to Repeat Last Year's Excitement

2013 WOMEN'S SOCCER PREVIEW

TOWSON, Md. – With a 12-4-2 record, the Goucher women's soccer team recorded the second-most successful season in program history last year, and head coach Tati Korba is optimistic that the momentum will carry over to 2013.

Last season, the Gophers finished with their first winning record since 2003, and only a 12-3-2 performance from the 1994 squad prevented 2012 from being the best year since the program was founded in 1989.

"In the past seven or eight years, we've been working a lot on getting everyone to buy in at a deeper level, getting better players and fixing the culture," Korba said. "I think last year, they really bought into the fitness side of things. We were really fit last year, and were able to win a lot of games in the second half.

"We're even more physically fit this year," she continued. "We've got a lot of speed, and we're a better team technically. I think all of the pieces should be in place where we can do pretty well this year."

The Gophers return seven starters from last year, including team captains Lindsey Puopolo, who was second on the team with eight goals, and Caroline McDowell, the only player to start all 18 games. With freshmen and sophomores making up 19 of the 25 roster spots, however, Korba expects several positional changes early on.

"We have a lot of people that can play different spots," the ninth-year coach said. "And we've been working hard this preseason to find the best combination of people. We have all the pieces and parts; we just have to find the right way to put it all together."

One area which will look different from last season is the defense, which played a key role in Goucher's 2012 success. The Gophers began last year with seven consecutive shutouts, and ended up surrendering only 13 goals all season. Three of last year's starters will be back, but only one is expected to remain a defender in 2013, and Korba expects freshmen to make up half of the defensive line to start the season.

"Our defenders have come a long way in the last week," she said. "They faced a lot of pressure in our scrimmage against St. Mary's, and they will only get better as they become more accustomed to each other. We would like to have a pretty stingy defense again. That obviously keeps you in every game."

Goucher returns all three goalkeepers from last year, including Lexi Rudolph and Juliana Harkavy. Rudolph finished with an 8-3 record, collecting four shutouts and making 47 saves, while Harkavy was 4-1-2 with clean sheets in six of her seven starts resulting in a miniscule 0.27 goals-against average.

Despite a 7-0 start, Goucher stumbled in Landmark Conference play last year, finishing with a 2-4 conference mark and just missing out on a spot in the playoffs. Korba hopes that this year's roster will be able to remain consistent throughout the campaign.

"We were 45 minutes away last season from making the playoffs," she said. "The Landmark is always competitive, and I think that it's getting a lot more even across the board. Any team can make a run in any given year, and hopefully that will be us this year."

The Gophers begin their season this Friday with a 4:30 p.m. matchup at Swarthmore, the first of four road contests before their home opener against Rutgers-Camden on Sept. 14. The full schedule is available here, while the complete 2013 roster can be viewed here.