2010 Season Review
Signature wins: Elizabeth Levitan's goal – the only goal of the game – in the seventh minute of overtime against visiting Gettysburg is likely measured as the most exciting win of the season for the Fords. However, greater things were at stake late in the season when the Fords traveled to Swarthmore. The penultimate game of Haverford's regular season was a must-win for the Fords as the jumble for Centennial Conference playoff spots hinged on many of that Tuesday's (and Wednesday's) games. A 1-0 victory over the Garnet, on a first-half goal scored by senior Michele Buonora, allowed the Fords to head into the final game of the regular season with their fate resting in their own hands. The 5-0 victory over McDaniel on that last Saturday clinched a third-place spot in the final regular season Centennial standings and locked up a fourth straight conference playoff bid under fourth year head coach Jamie Gluck.
Season Notes: The Fords reached the 12-win plateau for the second straight season. Their seven conference victories equalled last year's total and also tied the mark for league wins by the NCAA tournament squad of 2005. The graduating class of this year's roster is the final recruiting class of former head coach and current Director of Athletics Wendy Smith.
Postseason Awards:
- National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-Mid-Atlantic Region: Kayleigh Herrick-Reynolds (Sr., third-team), Maura Schiefer (Sr., third-team)
- NSCAA Scholar All-East Region Team (college women): Michele Buonora (Sr., honorable mention), Herrick-Reynolds (third-team), Anna Rayne (Jr., honorable mention), Schiefer (honorable mention), Kristin Sockett (Sr., honorable mention), Katie Van Aken (Jr., honorable mention)
- All-Centennial Conference: Meg Boyer (Fr., second-team), Buonora (second-team), Herrick-Reynolds (second-team), Schiefer (second-team), Van Aken (second-team)
- Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll: Buonora, Allie Chen (So.), Elizabeth Levitan (Sr.), Kara McMahon (So.), Rayne, Lindsay Ryan (Jr.), Van Aken, Erin Verrier (Jr.)
- Centennial Conference All-Sportsmanship Team: Sarah Andrade (Jr.)
Looking Ahead: The Fords must replace four starters but the offensive end of the pitch remains mostly intact. Only seven goals from the team's 36 came from departing players and two all-conference performers, Boyer (second in goals with five) and Van Aken (team leader with seven goals), return along with Sophie Eiger (Fr., five goals). Boyer, Van Aken and Eiger combined for eight game-winning goals so the offensive push looks to continue to be a strong suit for the 2011 Fords. A defensive exodus via graduation will certainly make an overhaul in the back third high on coach Gluck's offseason and preseason to-do list. Of the four graduating starters, two were on the back line and one was the team's keeper. Gluck will need to fill the spot between the pipes with a younger and less experienced option, and will certainly rely on the return of defensive starters Kara McMahon and Erin Verrier to anchor an updated back line while providing a buffer for the new keeper as she gains playing time. Historically under Gluck the coach has metered out playing time early in the schedule to a few younger players who finish the season as an integral part of the team's plans in each third of the field. If history holds, the Fords will be making their fifth consectuive Centennial postseason tournament in the 2011 season.
2010 Season Outlook
The Haverford College women’s soccer team is hoping 2010 is the breakthrough season for a squad that has crept up the Centennial Conference ladder the past three years.
Head coach Jamie Gluck has led the program into the postseason conference tournament each of her three seasons on campus, most recently climbing to a third-place regular season finish in 2009 after placing fifth in the league in 2008 and fourth in 2007.
The 2010 squad may be the best Gluck has fielded due in part to the return of nearly her entire roster including all-conference junior forward Katie Van Aken (first-team), senior midfielder Michele Buonora (second-team) and senior defender Maura Schiefer (first-team).
Another key component back for her final year is senior netminder Kayleigh Herrick-Reynolds who recorded a conference-best 10 shutouts and allowed just 0.86 goals per game during the team’s 12-3-3 mark last season.
Herrick-Reynolds and a smothering defense, led by seniors Kristin Sockett and Schiefer, sophomore Kara McMahon and junior Erin Verrier, finished off the regular season in 2009 with a seven-match stretch in which it allowed just one goal while posting a 6-0-1 mark. With another year of seasoning under its belt, the defense in 2010 should be as good if not better than the previous year.
The offense in 2010 loses only three goals and a pair of assists from a 2009 squad that netted 31 goals and 17 assists. Van Aken led the team with nine goals and junior Anna Rayne and sophomore Hannah Davis topped the assists list with three each. Van Aken’s four game-winning goals were the third-most in the conference last year showing her propensity to not just score, but score when it mattered the most.
Midfield play will continue to be a strong suit for the Fords with the veteran presence of juniors Sarah Andrade, Buonora and Rayne, along with sophomore Allie Chen, patrolling the middle third. These returning players provide much depth to the 2010 roster but there will also be a new mix of faces from a crop of talented newcomers that will be interchangeable not only across the midline, but in either end of the field as well.
Last season Gluck smoothly integrated a number of first-year players onto the pitch with timely substitutions which should help players such as Katie Bigay and Katie Sheline play even more prominent roles in their second season with the team.
The Fords welcome six freshmen and a sophomore transfer to the roster this season. With these seven newcomers Gluck is in the enviable position of having perhaps her deepest team in her years leading the program.
“Any of our successes this season will almost certainly be due to a team effort,” said Gluck. “The depth we have this year will allow all of our players to have an impact on the team’s results.”
Another bonus for Gluck and the Fords can fall under the “What I did on my summer vacation…” category. The returning players gained the benefit of the NCAA’s once-in-four-years exemption for a foreign tour, taking a 10-day trip to Brazil in August where they not only participated in a community service project and exchanged cultural ideas but also got to play in three scrimmages with local futból clubs.
“We were fortunate to have the opportunity to go abroad as a team,” said Gluck. “I know this was an experience our players will remember for the rest of their lives and it should provide a great jump start to our season.”
The 2010 schedule will be a challenging one for the Fords but the team’s depth should help out during the grueling slate of conference and non-conference match-ups that include Johns Hopkins and Muhlenberg, Centennial teams that played in the NCAA tournament last season, and Mary Washington, a non-league foe that also played in the national tournament.