TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- The first practice of the year always brings an extra level of excitement and for the Indiana State women's soccer program, under the direction of third-year head coach
Julie Hanley, the Sycamores felt it even more as they will look to continue make strides inside the Missouri Valley Conference this fall.
The team opened the season with a mystic fog in the air while the team enjoyed a highly successful fitness test.
"I told the group that this year we had the most athletes pass the fitness test of any season that I have been here," coach Hanley said. "It is a testament to the work that the team put in over the summer. For us as a staff, we are very excited to get going especially after seeing the work that the team has put in to get ready."
That carried over into an impressive display during 11 vs. 11 drills as most of the team members saw their first extensive action on the brand new Memorial Stadium FieldTurf.
"It was great to be able to come out on opening day and play '11v11' and there were some nerves out there," coach Hanley said. "But that's why I wanted to come out and play with full sides -- to hopefully get everyone comfortable right away."
ISU welcomed back a strong nucleus of returnees, including senior
Caitlyn Eddy who led the team with six assists last year and logged over 1,300 minutes of action after transferring into the program from Arkansas-Little Rock. Senior
Katie Wells is back for her senior campaign after scoring six goals last season to pace the Sycamores and was a Second Team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection as well as a MVC Scholar-Athlete Team pick.
"We are going to be really good offensively," coach Hanley commented. "We added a couple of attackers that will have the ability to get in behind. We are going to compete really well. This is a good group of athletes who believe in our culture which is geared towards competition and it just gets better everyday."
The Sycamores will be tested early and often this year beginning with an exhibition contest one week from today at Purdue. Indiana State will also play their first eight regular season contests on the road before opening up at home on Sunday, September 9 against Rose-Hulman at 3 pm (ET). Western Michigan and Chicago State will come calling the next weekend before Missouri Valley Conference play begins at Evansville on Saturday, September 22. ISU will host Loyola, Northern Iowa and Drake this year in conference play while they will also travel to Missouri State, Illinois State and Evansville. The top six schools advance to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament while the final four will converge upon Chicago on November 2-4 for the semifinals and championship match and a berth into the NCAA Tournament.
"It is a bit of stretch to open the season with nine games on the road," coach Hanley commented. "But once we get to conference play, we are going to be road tested. Anything that we are going to see from teams in conference play won't be anything that we haven't seen in non-conference play. It will be tough, but we are excited for it and we will be up for the challenge. We will see a Big Ten team on the road early and will be tested by a couple of MAC teams so we are going to have to be at our best everyday."
In goal this year for the Sycamores will
Hannah Sullivan, who started 10 matches last year and recorded 43 saves and was credited with four victories.
Maya Jamison and freshman
Sophia Grenz will also battle for time in goal for the Sycamores this year.
Thanks to the support of the university as well as loyal donors through the Elevate campaign, the Sycamores will practice and play their home games on a brand new state of the art FieldTurf surface which was installed during the spring. This morning's workout was the first for the program on the new surface and the Sycamores will make their public debut in the home opener on September 9.
"This is the really the first time that we have been out here on the new surface as a team," coach Hanley said. "It is phenomenal the work that was done out here and the commitment that the university and athletic department put in to make this happen. It is huge for our program to be able to come out and practice and play on a surface that is as good as what we now have."
Indiana State will be back on the field this evening for their second practice and continues with two more training sessions on Thursday. On Friday, ISU will spend the morning at the Sycamore Outdoor Center before having a training session in the evening. After taking an off day on Saturday, the Sycamores will hold an intrasquad scrimmage on Sunday evening before beginning game week activities on Monday, August 6.
The Sycamores regular season opener is set for Friday, August 17 when they travel to Northern Kentucky at 7 pm (ET).
