2006 Soccer Preview

Aug. 17, 2006

After three years of the reclassification process to Division I, a time period where the team has had modest success, the end of the tunnel has almost arrived for the University of Northern Colorado women's soccer program. Despite the fact the team has one more season before they are eligible for the postseason, the 2006 campaign will be one of several new and exciting firsts for the program.

The biggest change for 2006 is that the Bears are now an official member of the Big Sky Conference and will compete against a full league schedule this season. Although they are not eligible for the Big Sky Tournament, they could win the league's regular season crown if they play well enough this season. And the adjustment period to new opponents and new travel destinations is lessened by the fact that Northern Colorado played five of the other seven BSC teams during the 2005 season.

"A great part of being in the Big Sky is that it gives us something to play for this season," said head coach Tim Barrera, who enters his eighth season with the program in 2006 and who is the winningest coach in program history. "We can play for a regular season championship and see where we stack up against the other teams who are all pretty similar and who will be battled tested when they get to the conference season. We know the Big Sky is a very balanced and competitive conference from the teams we played last season. It will also give us the opportunity to play more games at home at the end of the season."

Home games have been hard for the Bears to come by through the reclassification process, as they have often had to play on the road against top-level opponents and sacrifice games late in the season when other teams were playing conference match-ups. The program had just two regular season home games in 2003, six in 2004 and five a year ago. That number will grow to eight in 2006 and the team will have the luxury of a soccer-only stadium to call their home. After playing on the Butler-Hancock Fields since the program's elevation to varsity status in the mid-1980s, the team will move across campus to the newly renovated Jackson Soccer Stadium this fall. The home to the football program from the 1920s until 1994, the venue had been almost dormant for the past decade. But as part of a $16 million dollar student fee referendum, the venue got a complete makeover including a new playing surface, team building, lights, a new scoreboard, a renovated press box and an additional lit practice field in which to train on.

"It will be great to have a proper home for our program," Barrera said. "The facility is as good as you are going to find almost anywhere. Also it gives us the ability to play night games for the first time which, along with our conference schedule, should help attract larger crowds."

Now that the foundation for a successful program has been laid, what will the 2006 edition of the Bears soccer team be like on the field? Experienced and mature are two of the qualities that stand out, as the program has 20 returning players and nine returning starters from last season's 7-9-2 team. When the reclassification process started, Barrera decided to go with a youth dominated team, stacking the roster with underclassmen in hopes that when the program was in a conference they would be able to compete right away. That philosophy has seemed to pay off as the team will have six seniors, its largest crop of final year players they have had since 2002, six juniors and 10 sophomores. That group is bolstered by a talented group of newcomers who will not be content to sit on the bench, as they will vie for playing time right away.

Senior Kady Hydrick has played in 48 total games in her Northern Colorado career.

"It is nice to have older players that have an understanding of Division I and what is required to succeed at this level," Barrera said. "We only lost a handful of players over the last few seasons, and that was part of the plan all along. We wanted our younger players to get a lot of experience ahead of moving into our conference, with the eventual goal to be winning the conference in 2007 and make the national tournament. In 2007 we will have quite a few juniors and seniors and some pretty good younger players as well."

That experience in 2006 will come from the senior class which includes Laura Hassebroek, Kady Hydrick, Chrissy Marvin, Annie Osborne, Audrey Rich and Katie Seno. Hassebroek and Hydrick, along with junior Megan Bellendir, will serve as the team captains in 2006.

At the forward position the Bears are led by sophomore Jessica Zimmerman, who lead the team in goals (9), assists (9) and points (27) on her way to Division I Independent Offensive Player of the Year honors. Others at the forward position include junior Marika Johnson, who tallied four goals and added five assists in 2005. Johnson has proven herself as a goal scorer in her two years with the program and the talent that surrounds her now should only make her job easier. She will also get the opportunity this season to play alongside her younger sister Marcie Johnson, who will be a freshman forward for the Bears. Also at the forward spot is sophomore Teresa Prais. As a freshman Prais scored the Bears first goal of the season but would suffer an injury later in that contest and miss seven games. That injury prevented her from getting into an early season rhythm and slowed her down upon her return. But she did manage to net three assists after coming back and should be a goal scoring threat in 2006.

More experience at the forward position comes in the form of two of the seniors, Hydrick and Rich, who are both in their fourth year with the program. Hydrick scored four times as a freshman but has not netted a regular season goal since and will look to give the Bears even more options in its attack. Rich, who was named the team's Most Improved Player after her sophomore season, has been a consistent contributor for the Bears in her time on the pitch.

Junior Marika Johnson scored four goals during the 2005 season.

Also at the forward spot is sophomore Jessica Daves, who played in eight games in 2005, freshman Danielle Sandos and freshman Amanda Kafer. Kafer was the 2006 4A Player of the Year, a two-time first-team all-state selection, her conference's Player of the Year and helped Broomfield High School to a 16-2-2 record and state championship as a senior.

"We should be fast and dynamic up front," Barrera said. "Teresa had a great spring, Marika is very good around the goal and Amanda Kafer will add a lot to our attack. With a strong group of returning players and some newcomers, I think we are deep up front."

In the midfield, the Bears lost the services of starter Chelsey Ekenberg. who scored three goals last season, to graduation. But the Bears are not lacking experience as they return a pair of players who will be captains this season in Hassebroek and Bellendir. Hassebroek, who has started all but two games during her Northern Colorado career, scored a pair of goals and added two assists last season. Bellendir also added a pair of scores for the Bears as a sophomore in 2005. The trio of sophomores in Ashley Brumback, Whitney Hawkins and Patricia Wong each played in double-digit games a year ago and combined for four goals. Four newcomers will also vie for playing time including Greeley native Sara Hemmings, Lisa Van Alstyne, Sydney Vander Velde and Lynneal Williams. Hemmings, who will also play basketball for the Bears, may be described as one of the most versatile athletes at Northern Colorado as she was an all-conference selection in each soccer, basketball, volleyball and tennis at Greeley West High.

"We lost Chelsey to graduation but I feel confident with the position because we return Hassebroek, Bellendir, Brumback, Hawkins and Wong," said Barrera. "Plus newcomers like Williams, Vander Velde and Hemmings will also contribute. We have a very deep midfield and I think the quality of our midfielders may give us the opportunity to play some five-man midfields during the season."

Senior Laura Hassebroek has played in all but two games of her Northern Colorado career.

The Bears defense may be the most experienced of any position, as three starters, all of whom are juniors, return to anchor the squad. Included in those returning starters are Megan Miller, Kerry Pitt and Kayla Oakley. Miller, who has started 24 consecutive games entering the season, was a Division I All-Independent selection last year, one of 15 players selected to the team. Also returning are seniors Seno and Osborne and sophomores Jordan Weeks and Krista Walters, both of whom saw action as freshmen. Newcomers at the defender spot include Lisa Gerhardt and Holly Thurner.

"We have an experience group in the back," Barrera added. "We have a solid core of juniors in Megan Miller, Kerry Pitt and Kayla Oakley."

That group will help protect the net for Marvin, the team's senior goalkeeper. A two-year starter, Marvin has a huge left foot, as she has been known to come to midfield and take free kicks for the Bears; Marvin has three career assists in that role. Last year she played in 14 games, missing five others due to injury, and made 66 saves in nearly 1300 minutes of action. Her 198 career saves ranks fifth most in Northern Colorado history.

"Chrissy is a unique player in that even as a goalkeeper she can be part of our attack because she has the ability to take free kicks," Barrera said. "She is experienced, a good shot stopper and her distribution is tremendous."

Marvin will be backed up by newcomer Leah Zevenbergen, who will battle for playing time during the season.

Besides the seven Big Sky Conference games the team will play this season, the Bears will also be tested by several quality non-conference foes. The Bears will play a pair of games at Oregon State's tournament, two more at Minnesota's tournament and squeeze in games with Old Dominion, UTEP and Wyoming among others.

"Our pre-conference schedule is very challenging, but it will help us prepare for our conference slate," Barrera said. "We will match up with some top teams and play squads from Conference USA, the Pac-10, Big 10 and Mountain West as well."

Whether the Bears claim a Big Sky Conference Championship this season or next, all the pieces are in place for a Big Sky title to come to Greeley in the near future.

"Our players are excited to play in a conference and to play games in our new stadium," Barrera said. "We want to build off our good spring season which included a victory over Colorado (a team that Bears will play in an exhibition game this season). I think we are experienced defensively, deep in the midfield and have some dynamic players up front. We are still somewhat of a young team, but we are looking for our upperclassmen to step up."