2013 Womens Soccer Preview~

As preseason training begins for the USC Salkehatchie women’s soccer team, there are more questions about the potential of this year’s team than answers.  This is because the team lost ten players to graduation in May and had three team members transfer.  Thus the team lost seven starters from last year’s squad.  On the plus side, the team will return eight experienced players and receive an influx of 13 freshmen.  “I guess what it will all boil down to is the strength of the recruiting class,” according to Coach Glass. “The freshmen will be expected to contribute right away. I expect to see many  new players in the starting lineup when our season begins.”

Glass always looks to build from the back, and this year is no exception.  The 2013 team will feature several returning players in the defense including Lisa Doolittle, a center back from Auburn, Georgia, Kori Hunter of Jonesboro, Georgia, who also plays in central defense, as does Sasha Crawford of Lithonia, Georgia.  Returner Jasmina Smith of Midway, Georgia, is planning to resume her starting position as left wing back, and incoming freshmen Kelah White is slated to see time as right wing back.  Freshman Kenesha Roberts of Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, is expected to anchor the defense in the role of sweeper. Roberts will have some big shoes to fill as she will be taking over the spot played by Amelia Green of Antigua, West Indies.  Green, an all-region defender two years running, will be playing at NCAA Division I South Carolina State this fall on a soccer scholarship.  “I see Kenesha following in Green’s footsteps and walking out of here with a big D-I scholarship offer in two years,” says Glass.  Of course the key to a good defense is a strong goalkeeper and this year the team will have three candidates for that role.  Danielle Danforth of Augusta, Georgia, will be returning to the team after having her 2012 campaign interrupted by injury.  Joining Danforth will be two freshmen goalkeepers, Libni Iglesias of Lexington, North Carolina, and Chelsee Wright of Upatoi, Georgia.  “I feel very good about our goalkeeping situation,” says Glass. “It is always great to have an experienced keeper returning and equally exciting to have two high quality keepers like Wright and Iglesias joining the squad.”

To read the entire preview, go to  www.uscsalkathletics.com