Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Women's Soccer Team Hopes to Carry Momentum into 2001 Season
9/1/2001 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 1, 2001
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Five words will embody the women's soccer team this upcoming season: leadership, experience, commitment, chemistry, and talent. After spending much of last season in limbo due to injury problems, the Bison are eager to return to the league tournament healthy in 2001. To do this, the team will lay its foundation using these five words as a means for returning to greatness.
In a preseason poll of league head coaches and sports information directors, Bucknell was chosen to finish fourth in the eight-team field. Colgate received half of the first-place votes from the 16 voters and finished with 82 pionts. Navy (78 points) picked up four first-place votes while Holy Cross (74 pts.) gained two. Bucknell (66 pts.) and newcomer American (41 pts.) were the top choice by one voter each. Army came in sixth with 41 points, while Lehigh (33 pts.) and Lafayette (29 pts.) were picked seventh and eighth.
Last season the women's soccer team returned to the Patriot League Tournament only to make an early exit, losing to Holy Cross. The Orange and Blue will take the lessons learned from the 2000 campaign and use them to formulate their own recipe for success in 2001. Bucknell has many strong players remaining on the squad, losing only one to graduation, which bodes well for Head Coach Chrissy Findlay who is entering her fifth season at the reigns of the women's soccer program.
Findlay, who has compiled a 30-41-2 record at Bucknell, has high expectations for her deep and experienced soccer team. Because of so many strong central players, the Bison system of play may change in 2001.
The Orange and Blue's forward line will be again talented and will have the experience this year that it did not in 2000. Sophomores Kristie Simon (La Grange, Ill./Lyons Twp.) and Savannah Rennels (Rector, Pa./Latrobe) will again look to dominate the scoring categories for both the team and the league. Junior Tara Utchel (Heidelberg, Pa./Sewickley) may join the forward line and look to go back to her role as a scorer, as opposed to a play-maker from the midfield. These three combined for 23 of Bucknell's 30 goals last season.
The biggest improvement to the Bison was their ability to go forward with the ball and that will only be strengthened with the arrival of Ashley Dincher (Winfield, Pa./Selinsgrove) and Megan Farrell (Weston, Fla./St. Thomas Acquinas). Incoming freshmen Dincher and Farrell are likely to make an immediate impact on the Bison offense. Dincher possesses a solid one-on-one game while Farrell is a consummate "playmaker" who can set the pace of the game.
Anchoring the forward/midfield line will be Utchel who was on the first team All-Patriot League despite missing the final four games of the season. Utchel has the ability to completely take over a soccer game and after a successful off-season of rehab she should be able to bring her skills back to the field. Her ability to lead will also be important in 2001 having been selected as one of the team's tri-captains.
Aiding Utchel in the offensive midfield will be senior tri-captain Ali Chandler (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula) and senior Lindsay Slomer (Cheswick, Pa./Springdale). Chandler is an important member of the team because of her unselfish play and consistency on the wing, while Slomer has been a constant contributor over the past three seasons. This is the second consecutive season that Chandler has been a captain for the Orange and Blue. Senior Sarah Klang-Glienna (La Canada, Calif./LaCanada) will look to display her passion for taking players one-on-one in the midfield. Not known for her scoring, senior Jessi Springer (Rochester, N.Y./JC Wilson Magnet) brings a strong will and commitment to success to the women's soccer team. Over her first three seasons Springer has developed into a strong utility player off the sideline for Coach Findlay. Joining the team again after a year abroad is senior Meredith Barnes (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury). Barnes was an All-Patriot League player as a sophomore and will be an added threat to the Bison arsenal.
In addition to Utchel, the junior class has several strong players in the Bison midfield in Kristen Tsou (Guilford, Conn./Choate Rosemary Hall) will again battle the center of the field and use her great vision for the Bison.
Joining the midfield ranks for the Bison in 2001 will be newcomer Meghann Chipko (Lexington, Ky./Paul Lawrence Dunbar) who comes from an extremely successful club program and will bring a host of talent to the soccer field. Also entering with the class of 2005 is Isabel Diaz (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep).
The Herd has the potential to field a very solid back four unit if it stays healthy in 2001. Three-time tri-captain, senior Anna Hall (Chapel Hill, N.C./Durham Academy) has been a rock for Bucknell in the backfield the past three seasons. Her leadership role on the field as been invaluable and will be her most important quality once again this upcoming season. Hall will be joined on the battlefield by juniors Kate Cramer (Manasquan, N.J./Wall), Melissa Lawson (New Hudson, Mich./South Lyon), Karla Killian (Dayton, Md./River Hill), and sophomore Abbey Seaboyer (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendohowa) and freshmen Michelle Santonacita (Glen Rock, N.J./Immaculate Heart Academy), Jill Smith (Kunkletown, Pa./Notre Dame) and Annie Greenspun (Ardmore, Pa./Haverford).
Killian returns after earning second team All-Patriot League honors last season. Playing in every game but one is Cramer who is a gritty defender that often draws the opposing teams top player. Lawson will return in 2001 after spending the last half of the season sidelined due to shin splints. Seaboyer will again play in the center of the backline using her speed and tenacity to shut down opponents.
Battening down the hatches all season for the Bison was veteran goalkeeper, sophomore Kelly Kannen (Suffield, Conn./Suffield) who is coming off a Connecticut State Championship last year.
The Bison look strong going into the 2001 season and will be eager to redeem themselves after last year's first round loss to Holy Cross at the league tourney. With a strong group of veteran's and new players to the system, Coach Findlay will have the necessary tools to develop the women's team into a champion.
The 2001 ledger will open with five non-conference contests before the Bison head to the nation's capital to take on a new conference foe in American University. Bucknell will play its usual conference schedule and the non-league schedule will be highlighted by a contest at Penn State at the end of September. The Orange and Blue open their season on Sunday, September 2, with a game at Pittsburgh at 2:00 p.m.
