Kennesaw State soccer starts new season

By E. Marcel Pourtout, Editor

After winning nine matches and making the semifinals of the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament last season, the Kennesaw State soccer team embarks on the 2014 campaign with hopes of bringing home a championship and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Despite dropping its opening contest of the season to Alabama last Friday, the team is still optimistic about its prospects.

“We’ve got a fit returning group that’s motivated,” coach Rob King said. “The newcomers have surprised me with how fit they were in our preseason tests.”

The Owls have incorporated a new formation to improve an offense that scored only 18 goals in 19 total matches last season. “It will make us less predictable,” King said. “We want to make sure that we have two or three options we can execute well and play quickly. Working on our speed of play was important and our main focus in the preseason.”

The players have found positives in the new formation as well. “I think this style of play with our caliber of players suits us well,” senior midfielder Nicole Calder said. “We have a talented group of individuals who are technical and can keep the ball.”

On the backline, the Owls return sophomore goalkeeper Olivia Sturdivant, who played every minute of last season. The defensemen rotation will include senior Alma Gardarsdottir, who made the All-Atlantic Sun First Team last year, senior Iyani Hughes, redshirt sophomore Danielle Gray and Calder.

“Our defenders bring leadership and experience to the team,” King said.

The offensive attack will be led by sophomores forward Maggie Gaughan and midfielder Shannon Driscoll who each had three goals last season. The coaching staff will also rely on midfielders junior Hannah Churchill and senior Julia Nelson to control the pace of play.

The Owls have one of the youngest teams in the A-Sun, featuring 15 freshmen or sophomores out of the 21 total players on the roster. “We try to help the younger players by guiding them through practice,” Reed said. “They came in strong which was nice and working hard everyday.”

The youthful makeup of the Owls has placed an extended emphasis on the non-conference schedule in the early portion of the season.

“We’re trying to get to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses on and off the field,” Gardarsdottir said about the non-conference matches.

The Owls return to action on Monday in the home opener against Georgia State.