Walking onto the field this season, junior forward Jessica Davila can feel the chemistry between each of her teammates. With the majority of the women’s soccer team returning, there is a bond that will only get stronger as the season progresses.
The 2010 season ended in a loss to Johns Hopkins University in the NCAA National Tournament, leaving the Lions with an 18-3-1 record. But the team is ready to put up a fight this season and go even further.
“I think it’s going to be a great season for us this year,” Davila said. “We have a good new addition with the incoming freshmen that I think will help us be very successful this season.”
The Lions were picked as the New Jersey Athletic Conference preseason favorite for the 2011 season.
“I feel as if we deserve this,” said senior defender Nikki Migliori. “We still need to work hard to actually attain that title, though.”
Lions rivals Rowan University and William Paterson gained the second and third spots. William Paterson handed the College its first defeat last year, ending their bid for perfection in 2010.
“Rowan University and William Paterson University are the big games in the conference,” Davila said. “We are all very familiar with how each other plays and that will be very beneficial to us to win those big games.”
Not only are the women familiar with the way the returners play, but six of the women were selected to All-NJAC teams last season. Senior defenders Annie McCarthy and Brittany McGinley
received first-team honors. Other players named to the All-NJAC second team include junior forward Allyson Anderson, junior midfielder Amy Van Dyke, and junior defender Allison Foy. Sophomore goal keeper Kendra Griffith was named the NJAC Rookie of the Year for 2010.
Migliori is proud of her teammates for achieving honors, but she as well as the rest of the women understand that it is a team effort.
“All of the girls contribute greatly,” Migliori said. “We’re a team and everybody is in this together. I feel it is so honorable to play with everyone on this team.”
The Lions will open the season on Saturday, Sept. 3, against Ithaca College in the Elizabethtown Blue Jay Classic.
