Women's Soccer Look To Continue Ascent In the SSC

MIAMI SHORES, Fla.—The Barry Buccaneers are coming off a Sunshine State Conference regular-season title in 2013 and picked second in the SSC heading into this season. With 13 letterwinners and eight starters back in 2014, but the Bucs should still be a force to be reckoned with in the SSC.

“I think we did really well last year,” head coach Denise Brolly said. “Obviously we got the achievements that we deserved, but at the end of the season, I think we can all agree that we underachieved towards the end. So yes, we’re proud of ourselves. We did do well. But I think this year we want consistency and we want to be in the game a little longer.”

The Bucs were one of the stoutest defensive teams in the conference, leading the league in goals allowed and posting nine shutouts behind SSC Defensive Player of the Year, keeper Becca Rogers.

“Obviously Becca was phenomenal last year,” Brolly said. “Without Becca, it wouldn’t have been the season that we had.”

Out of the four-player base defense, the Bucs return 56 of 76 starts (73.6 percent), including first-team All-Conference performer in left back Ashley Harlan.

“We have everyone coming back apart from Danielle Mabie and Katrina Molfetta,” Brolly said. “They will be missed. But we do have some people who can fill that spot and more. Defensively, we’re in a great place but I think more importantly, we’ve added some players who can help us all over the field.”

Offensively, the Bucs return 25 of their 34 goals from last season and 22 of 34 assists. First-team All-SSC forward Lauren Manna and first-team midfielder Lavinia Nkomo combined for 18 goals and 11 assists.

“I think the [success of the] team last year was based on work ethic and work rate,”Brolly said. “Now we have that and more. We have players who are technical, talented going forward. We have some pace. We’ve added some talented players in spots, but we’ve also improved the overall squad as well.”

In addition to their physical training, the Bucs have also embraced their efforts with the University’s sports psychology department.

“The most effective leaders, teams, organizations, and people don’t focus on what they can achieve,” Dr. Lauren Tashman, coordinator of sport psychology services at Barry, said. “They focus on ‘why’ they’re doing something, then it transitions to ‘how’ they do it. The ‘what’ of the outcome follows naturally. So, keeping that in mind, it’s really effective for a team to think about kind of a theme or motto that grounds them.

“The [women’s soccer team] developed the concept ‘We Will. We Can. We Did.’ ‘We Will’ fight. ‘We Will’ work with each other. ‘We Will’ win. During the middle of the season, they will kind of phase into ‘We Are’ achieving those things. ‘We Are” doing those things. And then at the end of the season, ‘We Did’; ‘We Accomplished It.’ Driving that day in and day out is the question: ‘Is it good enough? Is what we’re doing good enough? Are we putting enough effort into it?’”

Here’s a look at the 22-player roster for the Bucs heading into the season.

GOALKEEPERS

Rogers became the first Buccaneer in history to earn SSC Defensive Player of the Year. She led the league with 88.0 save percentage. Her 0.71 goals against average, 103 saves and nine shutouts were second. She enters her senior year as one of the top keepers in the region.

Paula Forero joins the team from the Miami Hurricanes. She made four starts with a 0.46 goals against average and two wins for the ‘Canes in 2012 as a freshman, but did not play last year. She is a member of the Columbian senior women’s national team and competing for the starting keeper job.

DEFENDERS

The defensive backfield, in addition to Harlan, returns center backs Amber Smith and Katie Turner. Smith and Turner combined to make 28 starts and worked over 83 percent of the available minutes.

With Harlan locking up the left side, the Bucs will have to replace Danielle Mabie on the right. Kayla Nanoo and Natalie Diaz both saw action there last year. Aly Picasio is back healthy this season and should figure into the mix. Alexia Clark also returns after red-shirting last season.

Freshman Luiza Maragoni could see time in the back as well as in the midfield.

MIDFIELDERS:

The midfield was the hardest hit unit by graduation. Starters Chelsea Stoeckigt and Dominique Richardson both closed out their careers, while Sara Karna elected not to return to the team. Together they played nearly 4,000 minutes, made 45 starts and contributed seven goals and 11 assists.

Tamara Vuckovich tied with Stoeckigt and Nkomo for the team lead in assists and knocked in three goals from free kicks. She earned second-team All-Sunshine State Conference honors.

Diaz, who also started some at right back, and Nkomo both played extensively in the midfield. Diaz had three goals, including the game-winner at Flagler, and added one assist. Nkomo, the only player named to the first-team All-Region squad from the Bucs, notched six game-winners among her eight goals.

The newcomers should make a big impact in the midfield, led by NCAA Division I transfer Rayah Seckler and Scottish imports Christy Grimshaw and Amanda Traynor. Seckler led Team USA to a gold medal at the Maccabiah Games in Isreal. Grimshaw and Traynor both represented Scotland at the junior level. Areli Luna is a transfer from Monroe College in New York who brings a strong work ethic and creativity. Antonella Monrreal is a freshman from Miami who adds depth as she adjusts to the college game.

FORWARDS

With Manna, the Bucs return their top scorer. The senior from New Jersey had 10 goals to lead the team last year. Kayla Hodge scored three goals in 11 games as a freshman in 2012 before taking last fall off.

Jojo Frigerio, who red-shirted with the team last year, is a high-powered forward from Italy with an international flair. She scored 27 goals in 2012 at Iowa Western CC. Shanice Robe, two-time Player of the Year in NCAA Division III Skyline Conference for Mount St. Mary, is another prolific scorer. She led the nation in D-III as a freshman with 35 goals and scored 25 last year to set the career record for the Knights.

Schedule

The schedule, while limited to just 16 games, is still daunting. Rollins, who edged the Bucs for the SSC Tournament title in double overtime, is ranked 14^th by the soccer coaches and #1 by BennettRank. The Tampa Spartans are ranked 18^th in the coaches’ poll and fourth in BennettRank.

“I think the main thing the coaching staff is focusing on is keeping everybody healthy,” Brolly said. “The difference from last year to this year is we have a little more depth on the squad. Therefore, I think we’ll be able to give our starters some rest. That’s going to be critical throughout the season. So, we’re in a tough conference but we wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The Bucs open on Friday, Sept. 5 at 7:00 pm at Saints Field against Flagler before returning home on Sunday, Sept. 7 at 7:00 pm to host the Lee Flames.