2007 Horizon League Women's Soccer Prospectus
Aug. 6, 2007
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Defending League champion Loyola and seven-time regular-season titlist Milwaukee look for a return to the NCAA Championship, while newcomer Valparaiso joins six other teams trying to climb to the top of the Horizon League women's soccer ladder in 2007.
Milwaukee captured its seventh consecutive regular-season loop crown last fall, posting a perfect 7-0-0 ledger in circuit play including a 1-0, overtime decision over Loyola. That (Oct. 13) match was one of six consecutive shutouts for the Panthers, who kept 16 of their 22 opponents off the board in 2006 but lost in the semifinals of the League Championship, 2-1 to Detroit to snap an 11-match winning streak. The last of those 13 whitewashes came in the opening round of the NCAA tournament when Milwaukee advanced past Michigan in penalty kicks on the way to a 16-4-2 overall record.
Goalkeeper Erin Kane matched her own League record with 13 clean sheets, and UWM finished eighth in the nation with a 0.44 goals-against average as a team (ten goals allowed in 2045 minutes). Kane has 26 shutouts in just two seasons, but a key component of the Panther defense is gone with the graduation of Third-Team All-America choice Ginny Graczyk. A pair of First-Team All-League picks---junior midfielder Sarah Teegarden (five goals, two assists last fall) and sophomore forward Louise Vraney (six goals, two helpers)---lead the attack. Senior midfielder Amanda Winn recorded eight assists a year ago to garner Second-Team All-League notice.
Loyola entered the 2006 campaign ranked fifth in the League's preseason poll, but Coach of the Year Frank Mateus led the Ramblers to the top, thanks in part to the efforts of (then) freshmen Cynthia Morote-Ariza and Jackie Vera. Morote-Ariza set a single-season school record with 27 points (nine goals and a League-best nine assists) to rank second on the loop scoring charts, while Vera added six goals and five helpers as part of the League's highest-scoring attack (42 goals). Both earned First-Team All-League accolades, with Morote-Ariza also named the circuit's Newcomer of the Year.
Senior midfielder Heather Lau (two goals and four assists) was also a First-Team All-League choice for Loyola, which returns seven of its top eight scorers from last year's crew that posted a 14-7-3 overall Ledger(5-1-1 in the League). Senior midfielder Amy Lomas (five goals, two assists) and senior forward Katie Heidenreich (three goals and five assists) each posted double-digit point totals, while sophomore backliner Casey Berrier, a Second-Team All-League selection, leads a Rambler defense that notched eight shutouts in 2006.
League newcomer Valparaiso won the regular-season title in its final year in the Mid-Continent Conference last fall. Ten starters come back from that 12-4-3 group, led by sophomore forward Sarah Jewell and senior goalkeeper Erin Murray (a school-record 0.87 goals-against average with three shutouts). Jewell led the Crusaders with ten goals and 22 points as a freshman to earn Mid-Con Newcomer-of-the-Year recognition and joins junior forwards Lori Johnson and Kendall Brown (five goals apiece) in the Valpo attack.
Detroit reached the League championship match for the fourth consecutive year, capping a 10-11-0 campaign. The Titans have a different look in 2007, however, with the graduation of two-time League Player of the Year Mary Parker, who led the circuit in goals (17) and points (40) last fall. Parker played a role in nearly 80 percent of the team's 29 goals in 2006 (see the chart on page 23), while players on this year's roster combined for only three strikes last season (one each by junior midfielders Nicole Gipson and Megan Canty and junior forward Rachel Stesny). The return of sophomores Lauren Moss and Emily Kiely should help fill some of the void, as those two players combined for six goals and seven assists as freshmen in 2005 before missing last year as medical redshirts. Moss was a Second-Team All-League choice with four of those goals and four assists.
A hungry Wright State squad tied a school record for victories with a 12-3-4 overall ledger, including a 4-2-1 loop mark, but was eliminated in a quarterfinal-round penalty-kick shootout at the League Championship. Two-time First-Team All-League choice Jess Rooma and junior forward Amy Miller lead the Raiders into 2007, along with senior midfielder Desiré Morris. Rooma bolsters the midfield for Wright State, collecting three goals and four assists as a sophomore, while Miller topped the team charts with a 23-point total that ranked fourth in the League and earned Second-Team All-League recognition. Morris added five goals and three assists in 2006.
Green Bay finished 8-7-2 last fall, with four of those seven defeats coming by 1-0 tallies. Senior forward Jennie Gorwitz scored eight goals to win Second-Team All-League acclaim in 2006, but the Phoenix must replace the 13-goal, 32-point performance of graduated midfielder Stephanie Gross. That missing output will place added importance on the goalkeeping efforts of senior Brooke Wikgren and junior Charla Buxbaum, who combined for a 1.31 goals-against average and five shutouts last season. Green Bay will rely on seniors Lotte Rasmussen and Amanda Brown (two goals apiece) to play larger roles this fall.
Butler posted a 5-11-3 record a year ago, with eight starters and 13 returning letterwinners. Junior midfielder Angie Muir recorded a carbon copy of her (2005) freshman campaign with six goals and five assists (17 points) to win a second consecutive First-TeamAll-League certificate, with senior midfielder Ashley Twehues gaining second-team acclaim. Junior forward Jenny Southard and sophomore forward Carrie Twyman each added four goals last season, with Southard also posting three assists for an 11-point total. Sophomore defender Abbie Kaul (two goals and one assist) was named to the League's All-Newcomer Team in 2006.
Youngstown State looks to move up in the standings, with all 11 starters back from the team that finished 3-14-0 overall (1-6-0 in the League) a year ago. Sophomore forward Jordan Gapczynski headlines the Penguin roster, providing half of the team's offense in 2006. Gapczynski's five- goal total was the best by a YSU player since 2003 and earned her a spot on the League's All-Newcomer team. Sophomore goalkeeper Caitlin Bodzioney also won All-Newcomer Team notice for her 133 saves and 1.88 goals-against average. Bodzioney ranked 14th in the nation with an average of 7.82 saves per match. Junior defender Caitlin Lee garnered First-Team All-League on the Penguin back line.
Cleveland State comes off the best showing in the program's brief history, with the Vikings (3-17-0) snapping a two-year winless streak with a victory in the season opener and adding two more triumphs. Senior forward Shayna Back set program records with six goals and 14 points a year ago to lead the CSU attack, with senior midfielder Heather Clapacs adding three assists. Cleveland State welcomes back junior forward Jennifer Wieand, who had a goal and three assists in 2005 but missed all of last season following knee surgery.
An automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament is on the line in the League Championship, which begins Tuesday, Oct. 30, when the ninth-place team travels to the home of the No. 8 seed. The top four seeds host quarterfinal-round action on Saturday, Nov. 3, before the highest-remaining seed hosts the final weekend of the summit. Semifinals are set for Friday, Nov. 9, with the League champion crowned on Sunday, Nov. 11.
The middle of October features a pivotal week in the loop schedule when Milwaukee visits Valparaiso on Oct. 12 and hosts Loyola four days later. Valpo travels to Loyola on Oct. 2. Wright State can make a statement at the end of the regular season, facing all three of those teams in an eight-day span---at Milwaukee on Oct. 21, hosting Valparaiso on Oct. 26 and entertaining Loyola in the (Oct. 28) regular-season finale.
The winner of the Horizon League Championship will attempt to continue the circuit's string of success in recent years. A League entry has reached the second round of the national summit in each of the last three years, with Milwaukee getting past Purdue in 2005 and Detroit eliminating Michigan in penalty kicks in 2004. Milwaukee and Loyola made loop history last fall, giving the League a pair of NCAA qualifiers for the first time ever.
