WOMEN'S SOCCER SEASON PREVIEW

Season preview with Lauren O'Malley, Makenna Herrero and coach Kristi Kiely

Introduction

Coming off its best season since joining NCAA Division II, the Point Loma women’s soccer team is eager to retake the field this spring. While the Sea Lions will not have the opportunity to make another run in a West Regional because the NCAA will not be offering championships for 2020 fall sports, they will have the chance to continue to build upon the solid foundation coach Kristi Kiely has installed over her first two seasons.

Returners

The Sea Lions will return seven starters who all earned All-PacWest honors last year. This includes all-region selection Lauren O’Malley (D), PacWest Newcomer of the Year Makenna Herrero (MF), first team selection Hailey Clifford (MF), and former PacWest Goalkeeper of the Year Emma Hinson. This group excites coach Kiely because of their experience and the positions they fill. 

“The spine of our team is strong,” said coach Kiely. “We lost the top of the spine with Julia Glaser. That isn’t to say we don’t have strength on the wide channels, but it is always nice to know you have strength in the spine with the players returning. The spine holds everyone else up. They allow the backs and the wingers to do what they do so well. I talk to the women each year about being necessary. Not in a vain way but in the way that when you are gone there is something missing from us. Someone will come in and fill that role, and fill it in a different way, but find a way to function in such a way that when you are gone, we feel it and we are bummed. Let that be your legacy.”

PLNU will also bring back its second-leading scorer and All-PacWest selection Rachel Carrell on the wing. O’Malley will also have help on defense with second team All-PacWest selections Jacqui Gerarden and Courtney Seman back as starters. Fernanda Osorio, Ashlee Watkins, Chase Bibbey, Alison Pepper, Sophia Smith, and Chloe Kim all made multiple starts for the Point Loma last year and will look to see increased minutes this season. 

Newcomers

Nothing will be a given for the returners though, as coach Kiely added a deep and talented recruiting class. This new group will contribute to the team’s depth and raise the level of competition in practice. 

Alana Diaz, Maddie Teagle, Bethany Arabe and Jazmin Valencia will play up top for Point Loma. Lorena Villa and Mara Sovde are coming in as midfielders. The deepest position in the new class is on the backline where they added Jordyn Rodriguez, Emma Thrapp, Naomi Ellis, and Mackenzie Kimmel. Transfer Taylor Washington joined the team in the spring as a goalkeeper. 

“I believe any one of them, at any point, could add value to us this season,” the third-year head coach explained. “That is exciting because you don’t always have freshmen that are able and ready to do that. For most it takes that year to get that college play under their belt but at least how they trained in the fall. I am confident in our ability to utilize them this season.”

Goalkeepers

Emma Hinson, Rachel Fong, and Taylor Washington will provide the Sea Lions with both depth and quality at the keeper position. Last season, PLNU ranked second in the PacWest with just 0.76 goals allowed per game. 

“Emma’s career during the first two years has been fantastic,” said Kiely. “She did not get as many awards last year as her freshman season but internally we all knew that she had a better year. Her play, confidence, and our dependability on her all rose last season, and I have no doubts she will continue on that path. She is cheerleading the team on right now and from a pure joy standpoint, she is leading us to good habits and good enjoyment.”

“Taylor Washington joined us in the spring for a few months before COVID,” Kiely explained. “She did quite well, and we are eager to see how she develops here and impacts our team.”

“Rachel Fong is coming back from injury and working hard to compete for minutes,” said Kiely. “We have been so impressed by her work and determination and look forward to having her back on the field in the fall most likely.”

Defense

Working right in front of the keepers is one of the best backlines in the West, if not the country. Last year, they helped the Sea Lions register eight shutouts, including in the regional semifinal against UC San Diego (1-0). Every member of that line is back, along with some newcomers that coach Kiely is excited to see on the field. 

“We did not graduate anyone from the backline," Kiely said. “We are experienced, consistent, and deep back there. I am excited to see who wins the spots. Lauren O’Malley, Courtney Seman, and Jacqui Gerarden have all been anchors back there during my tenure. Chase Bibbey and Sophia Smith both had great minutes back there last year. It is a luxury as a coach to have such tremendous, experienced players to work with and then you add in the talent of our newcomers and it's even more exciting.”

Midfielders

Right in the middle of the spine that coach Kiely spoke about, the Sea Lions will return a pair of all-conference performers in Hailey Clifford and Makenna Herrero. They combined for eight goals and six assists last season and are expected to play even a bigger role this season. Chloe Kim played in all but one match and made four starts. She will also be joined by Olivia Calderone, Mara Sovde and Mackenzie Kimmel. 

“We return Hailey Clifford and Makenna Herrero as starters and highly-contributing players,” Kiely said. “It is very exciting to have them back. They bring consistency, experience and presence. Chloe Kim got minutes last year and some in very important matches, we hope she will build off of that experience. 

“Liv (Calderone) is a solid midfielder whose talents we hope to utilize on the field,” she continued. “Mara Sovde is a freshman we welcomed in this year that has a very bright future with us. She is committed, she is dedicated and she wants to do well at everything she does. She is two-footed, can strike a ball, and has great vision. She never stops and I really appreciate that about her.” 

Wings

Flanking the midfielders will be PLNU’s deepest group, the wings. Rachel Carrell and Ashlee Watkins will both return to the position and will be joined by a slew of newcomers and others moving positions into the attacking role. 

“Rachel Carrell returning is a big deal in that position,” said Kiely. “She was our second-leading goal scorer last year and coming into this season she is one of the top on the team in every way. From attitude to fitness to technique to energy, she was fantastic this fall and I am looking forward to her future here.

“Ashlee Watkins added value to us in every session, with her attitude and her play,” said Kiely. “It has been a joy to see and I am looking forward to how that translates to competition. Alison Pepper played in the back and up top last year, but she will probably see most of her time on the wing this year. That girl can finish! She can strike the ball and I believe with the added experience she will only get more confidence. Alana Diaz, Bethany Arabe are a couple of new wingers that we added that we are very excited about. Jazmin Valencia and Maddie Teagle, Lorena Villa are all attack-minded players that could see themselves anywhere on the front line.

“Sofia Askari is coming off an injury so we will be spending time early this spring figuring out where her talents are best used but we anticipate using her in attacking positions," Kiely continued.

Forwards

At the top Point Loma lost former All-American Julia Glaser, and her 13 goals will not be easy to replace, but coach Kiely believes the Sea Lions have the depth on their attack to make up for the loss. Senior Fernanda Osorio played solid minutes last fall in the center forward position and we hope she will bring that same success to it this spring. Jordan Clay will be moving up from the backline. 

“Fern did quite well in the center forward position last fall and then during our very short spring," said Kiely. “She is a fantastic finisher with a strong knowledge of the game.”

“Jordan Clay came in as a defender, and she has sustained a number of injuries that have limited her opportunities on the field,” continued Kiely. “At this point, we are taking an approach with her similar to what we did with Sarah Steinhaus and we are trying her at new spots. She has some tools that can really benefit the team. We are looking at her as a front player and we are excited for her. 

“We are pretty excited for the depth we have built at those positions (forward, wing),” she added. “We just haven’t had a lot of players up top. They have all been good but when someone goes down there just have not been a lot of options behind them. It is fun to have them competing and adding more value to the team.”

Strengths

Point Loma has won back-to-back PacWest Conference titles and made runs in each of the last two NCAA regionals but coach Kiely knows each year it is a new team with new strengths and challenges. She sees the returners all trying to build on those experiences of those seasons and postseason runs. 

“Our biggest strengths have been our last two season-ending losses,” said Kiely. “The UCSD loss in 2018 propelled us to the UCSD win in 2019. I think the loss to Western Washington propelled us to the best spring, albeit condensed spring, since I have been here. Collectively everyone is on the same page. Those experiences are our strengths. The moments when you say ‘I want that back or I want that different.’ Every upperclassmen feels it and they want more. 

“This team is unsatisfied, and that is what I love and appreciate about this team,” she continued. “The tension of being unsatisfied but getting to taste it and wanting more, makes this team special. We were one goal away from the Elite Eight and just two games away from the Final Four. That is so exciting. It takes experience to win at that high-level and a lot of winning at that level comes from the experience of being on that stage and performing when there is a lot of pressure.

“If I had to say where this team is at mentally, taking COVID out of it, is that they are never satisfied,” she added. “They know there is something they need to be pleased with. We need to praise the things that are praiseworthy, and these players have definitely done things that are praiseworthy. This is a group that might not have a meaningful game for a number of months and they are still getting after it on the field.”

Goals

Exactly what the 2020-21 season will look like is still up in the air, but there are still goals this team hopes to accomplish in the time they have been gifted together. 

“This season I don’t even know what is up or down or left or right at this point,” said Kiely. “I was speaking to the team the other day and just thanking them for all their hard work because there is no real reason to put in a good day's work right now, from a motivation perspective. I know it is easy to get the mentality of ‘what am I doing this for?’ but I’ve been really impressed with how they approached our time together. I just thanked them for putting in the work. 

“This program will always value hard work and the responsibility to each other, the game, and the university, but I asked the women the other day what they wanted to see the program value,” she explained. “They mentioned that they want to see even more growth. We want to continue to value growth and often the greatest moments of growth come from major challenges. We are all being transformed right now and we are doing it collectively, which is really wild. We will continue to keep talking about growth during this time and why it is so important.”

Conclusion

This upcoming season, which the Sea Lions hope starts in early February, will not just be measured by putting tallies in the win column. What this pandemic has taught everyone on the team is to value the time they have together, and work hard for each other because nothing can be taken for granted anymore.