University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
2010 Soccer Preview
8/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Aug. 21, 2010
Third year soccer coach Scott Ebke is changing the landscape of Southern Miss soccer with youth and confidence. As the staff enters the 2010 season they have seen many improvements in and around the Southern Miss Soccer Complex, but none any bigger that the addition of an air-conditioned locker room, giving the team a climate controlled locker room for the first time in the programs history.
On the field Ebke will look to one of the biggest recruiting classes in school history to change the landscape of the Golden Eagle program. "About half of our team will be made up of first year players this season, it is an exciting time for us to see how this new group fits in with our returning players," Ebke said.
"We have some good returning players that are great students and great ambassadors for our program, but these 12 new players have really bought into what we are trying to do here and that is change the program and develop a winning tradition at Southern Miss."
One of Ebke's goals since taking the job before the 2008 season was to change the mentality around the Southern Miss soccer program. "Heading into this season, everyone has the understanding that we want to get better. In 2008, we came into a program that was a good soccer team, but has not had a ton of success. We have really tried to change the mentality and by visiting with players, both the returners and the new players, we know they are excited about where this program is headed."
With only eight upperclassmen of the teams 27 players, it will be the youth that determines what the 2010 season entails.
"There will be an adjustment period for the younger players, they are no longer the star at their high school or club team and every player they are up against will be a new challenge for them."
POSITON PREVIEW
In goal, Southern Miss has three good keepers but only Hanna Vanderbough has ever played a minute at the collegiate level, playing in eight games over the last two seasons. Redshirt-freshman Lindsey Schwaner and true freshman Hanna Weathersby should see their first collegiate action this season.
"Any of the three could see playing time this fall, they all have different characteristics that make them good and it should be an interesting battle this fall." Ebke added.
One thing that will be constant is that three-year starter Holly Cox is returning this season as the goalkeeping coach for the Golden Eagles. Cox logged nearly 5,000 minutes between the pipes in her Southern Miss career and should have a positive impact on the young keepers.
On the back line Ebke must replace two players who finished their careers with the most minutes played in school history in Erin Hamrick and Liz Hamlin but returns sophomore Caitlin Leumas, junior Amy Davis and senior Sarah Brusco who have all logged significant minutes in their career.
"With two big holes to fill from the departure of Hamrick and Hamlin, we could use a variety of players on the back line this season. Samantha Polley could drop to the back line as she did a few times last season or one of the new players such as Shelbi Moeller, Jessica Bartlett, Natasha Lombardo or Tara Nay could fill those rolls"
The midfield is the area that Southern Miss has the most wide open heading into camp and could determine the formation that the Golden Eagles play this season. The Golden Eagles have a plethora of midfielders that could be an impact this season.
"It starts in the middle with Samantha Polley and she will be surrounded with versatility and youth."
In addition to Polely, Mallory Barnes, Kristen Windecker and Elisha Tarbell all return with experience but also look for Kimberly Belmont, Danielle Beatty and Zoe Vanderbough to see some time in the center of the field.
One of the areas that Southern Miss has struggled with the past few seasons is having an explosive striker up top that knows how to score goals. This year they head into the season with more options for Ebke on the front line.
"We have not had that dynamic goal scorer the last two years but we have a range of five to eight forwards that we can put in a game right now that can all score goals."
The biggest addition up front is sophomore transfer Jordan Wagner who has a year of high level Division I experience playing last season at Iowa State as a true freshman. Also look for Misca Tice, Danielle Beatty, Chelsea Cruthirds, Chanel Elgin and Carmen Bofill to challenge for time on the front line. That group of newcomers joins Jana Mason, Stefani Buller and Tricia Tillman who all return for the Golden Eagles up top.
One of the things that Ebke can look to in 2010 is having team depth, a luxury he has not had his first two years in Hattiesburg. "We are carrying 27 players this year which will create a competitive culture in practices ultimately determining who plays and who does not this season."
SCHEDULE
Southern Miss will play a challenging non-conference schedule hoping to prepare them for the rigors of C-USA play.
"We have set the schedule up with some tough road trips early and some games against quality team, including three games against top SEC schools."
The other interesting aspect of the schedule is that Southern Miss is playing four other in-state opponents in the 2010 season.
The season opens on August 22 with 2009 NCAA Tournament Participant Southeastern Louisiana on the road. The home opener is the following weekend as the Golden Eagles host in-state foe Mississippi Valley on Friday, August 27, before traveling to another in-state opponent Mississippi State on Sunday, August 29.
The following weekend the Eagles will hit the road for what should be a very challenging trip against Samford on Friday and Vanderbilt on Sunday. Southern Miss returns home on September 12 to host Jackson State before traveling to Ole Miss on September 17.
The final non-conference game of the season will be on September 19 as the team host Norhtwestern State.
"The schedule does not get any easier once C-USA play starts, every game is going to be hard and the road portion of the schedule is incredibly difficult with five games against the teams that finished in the top six of the league last season."
The C-USA portion of the schedule opens on September 24 as Marshall visits the Southern Miss Soccer Complex on Friday and East Carolina comes in for a Sunday match.
The Golden Eagles open October with a trip to UAB on the first and Memphis on the third before returning home the next weekend to host Rice on the eighth and Houston on the tenth.
The longest trip of the season is the weekend of October 15th when the Golden Eagles travel to UTEP and Colorado College before returning home on October 22nd to host SMU and the final home game of the 2010 season October 24th against Tulsa.
Southern Miss will close out the regular season at Central Florida on October 29 and the Eagles will hope to stay in Orlando just a little bit longer as UCF will host the 2010 C-USA Tournament beginning on November 3.
