Soccer opens 2010 preseason camp Saturday
8/5/2010 8:00:00 AM | Soccer
With eight starters back from a team that reached the Southland Conference tournament semi-finals and posted the program's highest league finish ever in 2009, Sam Houston head coach Tom Brown and his assistant Chris "Topper" Cogan are ready to get work underway for the 2010 season.
The Bearkat women's soccer team reports Friday and begins practices Saturday morning. Along with the 14 letter winners returning, Brown also is bringing in another strong recruiting class that includes eight freshmen
There's been a ton of interest in Sam Houston soccer as we've gotten out among the recruits," Brown said. "We've been beating the bushes telling our story to a lot of people. The program is moving in the right direction."
The 2008 and 2009 seasons have been the most successful in the Sam Houston women's soccer program's seven-year history. With eight starters and six other returnees plus an exciting group of new recruits, the outlook is bright for the upcoming 2010 campaign.
Each of the past two years, Sam Houston has rolled up a program best total nine victories. The 9-7 record in 2008 was the Bearkats' first winning mark. Previously, the most wins in a season had been six.
The Kats followed up that achievement in 2009 by earning its second Southland Conference post-season tournament berth with Sam Houston's highest league finish.
In the tournament, Sam Houston knocked off UTSA 3-2 before a 2-1 loss to No. 1 seed Texas State in the semifinals.
"The performance at the Southland tournament shows our players have the ability to compete at a high level in this league," Brown said. "Now we need to build to the point where we can play at that level consistently."
Three players who earned All-Southland honors last year top the list of 2010 returning letter-winners. The trio consists of Pence, junior defender Deana Long and sophomore forward Kirby Zak.
Pence holds the Sam Houston career record for shutouts (17), goals against average (1.51) and goalkeeper victories (25). Long has started in the back line for Bearkat teams that have posted 13 shutouts the past two seasons. Zak led the 2009 team with nine goals. That total includes three game-winners and two hat tricks.
Other returning starters are midfielders Hillary Ackerman, Paige Rodriguez and Adriana Vasquez, defender Lindsey Posner and forward Leah Snelson,
Pence, Vasquez, midfielder Alex Clifton, defender Nicole Watkins and reserve goalkeeper Kelley Sikinger all are seniors and will be expected to provide quality leadership for the Kats.
Other returning letter-winners include sophomores Kayla Anderson, Amanda Biega, Emily Jurecka and Michelle McCullough.
Brown believes the newcomers address key issues necessary to continuing the program's progress to the top level of the Southland Conference.
Freshmen newcomers include defenders Carly Rheman and Gayle Ziegler; midfielders Kelsi Brown, Emily Edenstrom and Tricia Mallory; forwards Catherine Abitua and Natalie Johnson and goalkeeper Mallory Garthwaite.
"We will be a more athletic team this year and be better on the ball.," Brown said. "We will have a better blend of youth and experience this year. We have some newcomers who can impact us and will push the returning players for playing time."
Sam Houston opens its 2010 soccer slate on Friday August 20 with a road match at Houston Baptist. The first home match will be Friday September 3 when the Kats play host to North Texas.
"During the pre-conference matches, we want to put the players in situations we can use to teach them about what it takes to get to the next level," Brown said. "They need to learn how to make tactical adjustments game to game as they play within their role in our system."
Admission to Sam Houston State women's soccer games at Pritchett Field is free. For more information about tickets to all Bearkat athletic events, contact the athletic ticket office at (936) 294-1729 or go online to www.gobearkats.com .
