2012 Women's Soccer Season Preview

STANDISH, ME - The Saint Joseph's women's soccer seems poised to make a deep run in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament this fall.

The Monks went 7-5-5 overall and 6-3-4 in conference play last season under the watch of Head Coach Michael Bolanz '00 and looks to improve on both records in 2012. With a roster comprised of four seniors, six juniors, nine sophomores and six freshmen, St. Joe's could have the right mix of experience and ability to make a push for the program's first GNAC Championship.

This year's senior quartet - Katherine Chambers (Hampden, Maine), Jennifer Keaney (Scituate, Mass.), Sally Leger (Westminster, Mass.) and Casey Monaghan (Portland, Maine) - has endured the ups and downs of collegiate athletics during their SJC tenure. As freshmen, the group helped the Royal Blue earn the top seed in the GNAC Tournament with a 9-1-2 conference record, but the Monks missed the playoffs with a 5-6-1 GNAC mark the following year. Featuring a youthful roster, St. Joe's returned to the tourney as the #8 seed last fall and the 2013 senior class has plans to make this season one to remember.

If the Monks are to return to GNAC prominence this fall they will do so without the services of last year's graduating class: Shannon Fitzgerald, Katelyn Call and Caitlin Schrum. Led by Fitzgerald, a two-time First Team All-GNAC selection and 2009 GNAC Defensive Player of the Year honoree, the 2012 class helped Saint Joseph's post a 39-25-9 (.609) record over their four years and will be missed going forward.

Aside from Monaghan and Keaney, the Monks' talented list of returners includes sophomore forward Danielle Daigle (Dayton, Maine), junior forward Jessica Capozzi (Saugus, Mass.) and junior goalkeeper Jaci Lorenzen (Windham, Maine). Despite missing several games, Daigle paced the Royal Blue in assists (3) and ranked second on the side in both goals (5) and points (13) as a freshman and Capozzi tallied a goal and an assist while starting 10 games as a sophomore. Lorenzen, a Second Team All-GNAC honoree last fall, enjoyed a breakout campaign, starting all 17 matches with six shutouts, a 1.19 goals against average, and an .809 save percentage in 1585 minutes in goal last year.

Top newcomers include defenders Megen Pollini (Wolfeboro, N.H.), Taylor Marcotte (Northfield, Vt.), Jodi Pollack (Andover, Maine), Tori Cooper (Saco, Maine) and Whitney White (Salem, N.H.) and first-year midfielder Hannah Leblanc (Andover, Mass.).

The Saint Joseph's women's soccer program, added to the college's athletics offering in the fall of 1988, enters the 2012 campaign just three goals shy of the 1,000-goal mark. In the history of the program, 126 different players have combined to score 997 goals in 441 games over 24 seasons.

St. Joe's kicks off the new season with a home game versus non-conference foe Regis College on Sunday, September 2nd. Kick-off is slated for 1:00 PM.