A deeper bench is the key this year for the college’s soccer teams. Men’s and Women’s soccer are both returning with bright and intense attitudes bolstered by more players with more talent.
The women start their season on Sept. 1 with a game against Wofford College. Women’s coach Eric Lewis is confident in his teams’ ability to match last year’s victory at the conference level.
“We’re coming together nicely as a team,” said Lewis. “This is the strongest team ever.”
Lewis is returning for his third year as women’s soccer head coach at the college, with the help of new assistant coach Emily Johnson.
There are nine new players on the field and a wealth of returning lettered athletes.
“We’re going to do a lot better,” said senior forward Kimberly Mullen.
The team suffered a series of injuries early in the 2003 season. They hope to avoid a similar problem this year and welcome back the three injured players, Mullen among them.
Despite those early setbacks, the team still received its highest conference standings in Guilford history, placing fourth in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC).
The team accumulated a mass of individual awards for its players. Sophomore Jennifer Mundy received the distinction of All-region, All-state, All-conference (ODAC) and Guilford’s underclassman female athlete of the year.Mundy lead the team with 12 goals and four assist last year.
With all his players back and healthy Coach Lewis is optimistic about the coming year, “Our goal is no less than to win the conference.”
The Men’s team starts their season on Sept. 4 against Mt. Olive College at the Wesleyan tournament. They are compensating for the loss of players who graduated and scored almost 70 percent of last year’s goals.
“We have the talent – it’s a matter of if we can work together,” said senior sweeper Marcus Bowers, one of the seven seniors returning to the team. Behrens cites the returning seniors as being leaders for the incoming members of the team.
“(These) guys bring back a lot of experience,” said Behrens. Included in this experience is fifth-year senior, midfielder and All-conference player Brett Rhalls.
The team expects to maintain its 3-5-2 formation on the field, which will rely on a stronger defense to compensate for player losses from last year.
“We hope to win the ODAC,” said Coach Behrens. “We have more quality from top to bottom.