After enjoying one of the best seasons in La Salle's history, the women's soccer program is gearing up to open the 2005 season this weekend with games at Villanova, Friday at 4 PM, and Navy at 1 PM.

The preseason started with their annual trip to the Jersey shore and after a week of workouts, the Explorers took on Big East foe Seton Hall in a preseason match. After being down 2-0 and 3-1, La Salle persevered to come away with a 4-3 victory over the Pirates last Friday.

"I felt after the first 30 minutes, our level of play settled in which, I believe, led to the comeback," said Head Coach Paul Royal. "After seeing the team's potential, I'm very excited about the big games we have coming up."

Villanova offers a quick test for the Explorers, as the Wildcats return 18 players from a team that went 14-6-2 and advanced into the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Two of the big stars that return for Villanova are senior defender Laura Koch and junior goalie Jillian Loyden. Koch has already been named the Preseason Big East Defender of the Year, after earning NSCAA and Soccer Buzz All-Region first team honors and third team All-Big East honors in 2004.

Loyden, who replaced current La Salle assistant coach Chrissy Dolan, posted a 0.72 goals allowed average in 21 games last season. She allowed just 15 goals and registered eight shutouts.

However, the Wildcats did lose their top offensive threat from a season ago, as Laura Johnson was lost to graduation. She took with her nine goals and six assists, the leader of the team in both categories.

Their top goal scorers are now sophomore Nikki Mayberry, who netted four goals in her freshman campaign, and senior Regina Villari and junior Valerie Grow, who each added three goals in 2004. Sophomores Stacie Hartung and Kaley Guthrie return as the assists leaders, tallying five and three, respectively.

"I've always had a lot of respect for the Villanova program, and I am really looking forward to retruning to the west campus fields," said Royal.

Royal was an assistant coach for the Wildcats for the five prior seasons before coming to La Salle. But to get a win against Villanova would be a huge accomplishment for La Salle, as the Explorers have won just once in 13 career meetings with the Wildcats, a 1-0 victory in 2000.

In contrast, La Salle's opponent Sunday, Navy, will mark the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

The Midshipmen are coming off an 11-8-1 season that included a 4-3 mark in conference play, failing to make it to their conference tournament for the first time since the first full season of Division I soccer in 1994.

The Mids are faced with replacing six starters from last year's squad. Nearly the entire Midshipmen defense graduated last spring, including three-time All-Patriot League goalkeeper Kim Bonafede, leaving 2005 team captain Lindsay Adlam as the lone starter out of the back.

The Mids' offense, however, returns more powerful and experienced with All-Patriot League forwards Meggie Curran (eight goals, nine assists) and Sarah Hessinger (four goals, three assists) leading the charge. They also have sophomore Brigitte Fox (eight goals, six assists) returning, who was named to the Soccer Buzz All-Mid-Atlantic Freshman Team after a stellar freshman campaign.

"It is an honor to have added two quality institutions and soccer programs to our schedule. And my staff and I are very excited about the upcoming weekend."

The soccer team will kick-off the entire 2005 La Salle Athletics' season with its 4 pm start on Friday with the Wildcats and Villanova will be offering live stats of the game. The La Salle student radio station WEXP will also be broadcasting the game on the internet as well.

One important note for anyone looking to follow the women's soccer team to the Naval Academy on Sunday, there is security in place that prohibits cars without a DOD sticker from parking at the Academy. So it is suggested that fans park at the football stadium off of Route 50 and take the free shuttle to the game. The shuttle will drop fans off right at Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.

 

*****You can see live stats of the game on the internet by clicking on the "Live Stats" link at the top of the page and then the "Gametracker" link on La Salle's part of the schedule.

*****You can listen to the game on WEXP, the STUDENT RADIO station, on the internet by clicking on the "Live Broadcast" link at the top of the page. WEXP is not the official radio station of La Salle University Athletics.