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Season
Preview: MCCC Women's Soccer
9/10/09
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West Windsor,
N.J. - Head coach Jodie Ricciardi shrugs off the two losses that
her SA国际传媒 women's soccer team suffered
in its opening games of the 2009 season. She remains steadfast that
this year's team is as strong as last year's 17-4-1 squad that finished
one victory shy of reaching the National Junior College Athletic
Association Division I Championships.
The Vikings
played well enough in their opening games against high-quality opponents,
including a 2-1 loss to fifth-ranked Monroe Community College, that
Ricciardi believes the team's talent level and early work ethic
will pay off. The third-year head coach and her squad will play
their home opener Saturday, September 12 against Manor College (noon
start).
"The team
chemistry is great," says Ricciardi, whose 2008 MCCC squad
improved by 10 wins from her rookie season in 2007. The Vikings
won their first Region 19 Tournament title since 2002 and reached
the NJCAA District G title game before falling to that same Monroe
squad, 3-2 in overtime.
"They are
just literally a fun-loving group. They have so much fun, they love
playing the game and they all get along. They come out every game
and they work hard - 110 percent for all of them."
MCCC is expected
to have a dynamic offense. The front line features three returning
sophomores, led by Kasey Kenny (Staten Island, N.Y.), who had 29
goals and 12 assists when earning NJCAA All-American Second Team
honors as a freshman. Erika Juricic also made the All-Region 19
First Team (East Windsor, N.J.), with 12 goals and six assists.
Carolyn Walters (Hamilton, N.J.) also returns, after totaling six
goals and eight assists last season.
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All-American
Kasey Kenny
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Erika
Juricic in last year's Region 19 final.
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Nearby
Hightstown High has been particularly good to MCCC. In addition to Juricic,
its graduates include starting goalie Brianna Byrne and Marissa Segal,
another freshman who may be the leader of the backfield. Byrne began playing
goalie as a senior at Hightstown and, Ricciardi says, "Instinct-wise
she does really well considering she's only played for two years. We expect
a lot from her." Segal, Ricciardi adds, "is so aggressive back
there and she reads the plays. As they're developing, she just anticipates
exactly what's going to happen. She's very vocal back there. That's exactly
what we need."
Other
starting defenders are sophomores Angelica Modica (Manalapan, N.J.), Kelsey
Capuano (Ewing, N.J.) and Brittany Usarzewicz (Hamilton, N.J.).
The
midfield boasts sophomore center midfielder Caitlin Wilson (West Windsor,
N.J.), and freshmen Samantha Biondi (Hamilton, N.J.) and Jaclyn Tellefsen
(Hamilton, N.J.).
In
addition, Ricciardi is pleased with the players who come off the bench,
including freshmen Sheila Frank and Jessica Villalba, former teammates
at Bordentown High School.
"The
skill level of this team is definitely high," Ricciardi says. "We
have three or four girls on the bench who can come into the game and we
don't miss a beat, which is awesome. We have some depth this year."
The
Vikings will play 11 home games. They also have an important weekend trip
to New England during which they will face the Community College of Rhode
Island (Sept. 19) and Dean College (Sept. 20).
rections to MCCC
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