In the first round of the 2019 NCAA Division III Women’s soccer championship, Emory midfielder Lindsey Breskow kicked the ball past the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas (Calif.) goalie into the lower right corner of the net.
She didn’t know at the time, but it would be the last official goal scored by an Emory soccer player in almost two years.
The last goal by a member of the men’s soccer team came a few days before from midfielder Jun Tsuru (20B), a senior then, who headed a cross past University of Rochester (N.Y.) goalie Hugh Curran to put the Eagles up 1-0.
A lot has changed since then. For starters, nine women and six men listed on the 2019 rosters have graduated and no longer play with the team. Sophomores and the incoming freshman class have both never played a collegiate game. And even current juniors, who are typically seen as experienced upperclassmen, have only one season under their belt.
However, despite the changes in player personnel over the last two years, the biggest and most exciting change is that Emory soccer is back. On Aug. 5, the women’s soccer team released their 2021 schedule. A day later, the men released theirs. The most notable date on the schedule is the women’s first home game, which will be against Berry College (Ga.) on Sept. 1, marking the first collegiate soccer game played on Emory’s campus in 659 days.
Let’s take a look at how both teams are preparing for the upcoming season as well as what can be expected out of the Eagles this year.
The new and the old — men’s soccer to utilize depth of roster
While they were unable to play any games last year, the men’s soccer team was still able to practice in a limited capacity. Last fall, the team broke into positional groups and analyzed game footage from the previous year. However, the team was able to get more on-field work once COVID-19 restrictions loosened in the spring.
“We were practicing four days a week as we normally would for a fall,” Head Coach Cory Greiner said. “We usually played intrasquad scrimmages, [and because] we had a large returning group of players, I was happy we were able to at least play some full-sided matches each week.”
Besides the opportunity to compete in those inter squads, many Eagles are also excited to compete against other opponents. For senior midfielder Will Tichy, returning to competition after such a long period feels like a new start.
“It's amazing,” Tichy said. “To actually have a schedule coming up, it feels like I'm a freshman again. Coming from a year off, it felt like I wasn't even in college for that year playing college soccer because obviously we weren't. So it just feels like it's a new lease on playing, and we're all super excited to get back.”
As the team returns to the field, there will be some familiar faces. Out of the seven seniors on the 2020 roster, five decided to return for a fifth year, including three captains: defensemen Josh Berman and Max Mehlman and forward Nate Samson. While Berman understands his extensive playing experience can help younger players on the field, he also noted that his knowledge of the program can help his teammates off the field.
“We have a lot of new guys coming in,” Berman said. “And if you look at the freshmen coming in now, and the ones who were here last year but didn't get a chance to play, they now have a lot of fifth-years to look up to and learn from. I know that all of us fifth-years have recognized our position and are sure to use that experience to help out the future of the program.”
While that experience is invaluable to the team, the caliber of the underclassmen also plays an important role in the team’s success. Fortunately for Greiner, the extra time in the last year has allowed him to recruit talented players that may not have otherwise committed to Emory.
“There's a lot of players in general for the 2021 class that have flown under the radar of Division I and other programs in terms of the recruitment,” Greiner said.
A talented group of underclassmen paired with the fifth-year players’ wealth of experience should be two winning ingredients. And returning after a canceled season, their focus and dedication are through the roof. The renewed focus has junior midfielder Alejandro Gomez confident in the team’s ability to record a solid regular season and postseason.
“It’s not even just the talent that's on paper — that’s a whole other subject,” Gomez said, “but simply the competitive attitude that everyone has and their commitment [to the team].”
In 2019, the men went 9-5-4 and missed the NCAA Division III Championships. When the Eagles took the field on Aug. 19 for their first official practice, the team continued building on a foundation that will hopefully carry them through one of the toughest strength of schedules in the country.
“One of the main goals for us this year is going to be winning the league and winning the [University Athletic Association (UAA)],” Greiner said. “It's certainly one of the strongest leagues in Division III in the country, and if you win our league, you're probably going to be one of the best teams in the country.”
The men begin their season at Covenant College (Ga.) on Sept. 1 and return home to face Washington and Lee University (Va.) in the Sonny Carter Invitational on Sept. 3.
A process-oriented approach: women look to surpass 2019 first-round exit
The women’s soccer team was extremely limited in what they could do last fall. Coaches gave players skill challenges they could do individually, but without being in-person, moving the program forward was difficult. Instead, Head Coach Sue Patberg used the off time to keep the team connected.
“Our biggest focus was staying in contact with our team,” Patberg said. “Keeping them together, keeping them positive, really trying to support their mental health. That was probably the biggest focus last fall.”
One freshman from last year, defender Emma Cornejo, admitted that last year felt like a transition year because she only received a brief exposure to a typical practice schedule and team expectations. But, with a schedule now full of opponents, Cornejo no longer has to be satisfied with just a preview of collegiate soccer.
“I've been looking up to collegiate soccer my whole life,” Cornejo said, “and I thought last year was gonna be the time when I finally experienced it, but waiting built a lot of excitement inside of me.”
The women’s team also began practicing on Aug. 19. While Patberg confessed the team will begin the year as an underdog — mainly because other schools were able to play games last year — she believes the team’s “grit and determination” will quickly make up for it.
This determination can stem from a variety of factors, but it mainly comes from the players. This season, two of last year’s senior captains — midfielder Samantha Hilsee and defenseman Lily Dresner — will return to add onto an already talented group. Patberg also listed senior midfielders Lindsey Breskow and Lauren Mahoney, senior goalkeeper Emma Platt and junior defenseman Peyton Robertson as other players that will play a big role in the team’s success. However, even with those standout players, Patberg knows any team accomplishment rides on their ability to never look beyond the moment at hand.
“Looking past one opponent at another opponent, looking past your first preseason training to your first scrimmage [cannot happen],” Patberg said. “You really have to be in it and immersed in what that training session is right then and there — that's the only thing that should matter.”
But while focusing on the process is important, so too is knowing how and when your team performs best. Breskow recognizes that competing against the talented UAA teams means the team has a difficult schedule, but she believes that the timing of those games falls in perfect alignment with the typical trajectory of the team.
“We tend to peak mid-to-late season,” Breskow said. “It will be really good to have [nine] non-conference games in September and then our first conference game is at the beginning of October. So having those nine games, since we haven't played in two years, will really prepare us to peak right when we start conference games, [which are] crucial to get us into the tournament.”
For Breskow, just making the tournament is not good enough. As someone who has been a part of the program for four years, she knows the team has more potential.
“I see us making it back to the NCAA Tournament and hopefully going further than just the first and second round like we have in the past few years,” Breskow said. “With the talent I've seen so far on our team, once we start meshing with each other and playing together, we could have a talented year and make it super far.”
