2018 Season Preview
Head coach – Sarah Oswald (4th season, 38-27-3)
Assistant coach – Brittney Ruggieri (2nd season), Ali Brosky (2nd season), Alexa Nisiotis (1st season, JV assistant/goalkeepers)
Home games – Memorial Field
Last season – 15-9-1 overall (11-5-1 EPC). District XI Runner-up, qualified for states – lost to Spring-Ford 3-2 in opening-round
Players lost to graduation – MF Sophie Pickering (13 goals/2nd Team EPC), MF Rachael Miller (ESU), Def Sarah Schuster, MF Amy Lineberger, Def. Chrissy Lambert (Delaware Valley), MF Kaitlyn Carter, F Krysti Schmidt, Def. Paige Thomas, GK Kyra Malone
Returnees: Sr. F Co-captain Maddie Fey (14 goals), Sr. Co-captain Def. Sarah Smith, Sr. F Kellie Reith (6 goals), Jr. MF Gianna Albanese, Jr. MF Lily Schmitt, Jr. Def. Jada Tha (1st Team EPC), Jr. GK Alexa Ryan, Jr. Def. Grace Eisenhard, Sr. Def. Grace Hall, Sr. MF Mackenzie Grant, Jr. MF Lindsay Phillips, Jr. MF Madison McWhinney, Sr. GK Allison Stanley, Sr. MF Carolyn McGrath
Newcomers: Jr. F Lauren Latchford, Jr. Def. Elizabeth Andronis, Soph. F Madison Brown, Jr. MF Shaina Mehrtens, Jr. F Kayla Griffith, Jr. F Sydney Cole, Jr. Def. Morgan Dill, Jr. F Amy Erle, Jr. MF Jordan Stuckey, Jr. F Fionnuir Nichochlain, Soph. Def. Isabella Ingato
Coach Oswald – “We’re really pleased with the level of which the girls are playing at. We’ve implemented a new system this year and they (the players) have to buy in and focus in on what we are teaching. It’s a system that creates a lot of opportunities to be in front of the goal and the biggest downfall that we’ve had the last couple of seasons is being able to finish, but with this system giving us so many opportunities, finishing goals is something that we’re going to have to do in order to make sure that it’s being used effectively.”
“I think this is one of the most talented group of girls that we’ve had top to bottom. We have 25 kids on our roster and it’s the biggest we’ve had since I’ve taken over and that’s a testament to the type of kids we have. We have 16 juniors which is really big class and they’re really talented. For the kids that our just joining us up from the JV level they’ve really matched the expectations of what it takes to be a varsity soccer player here and have exceeded our expectations of what we want from them in the first two weeks of the preseason.
“We talk so much about what it took last year to get to the district final and the state tournament and that was a really big accomplishment for our group in general. We need to compete in our division and our division is fantastic this year with really quality teams. We also need to compete in the EPC playoffs and then districts is kinda its own entity – win or go home. There are different levels of challenges that we have, but I think this group understands what needs to be accomplished first before looking at the big picture.”
Season-opener: Saturday, Sept. 1 vs Northampton (10 am, home)
Contenders in EPC: Parkland, Easton, Whitehall
Follow the team on social media: Twitter: @Emmaussports.com, @EmmausSoccer; Facebook: Emmaus girls soccer