Combination Play/Team Defending

Attacking in the morning and defending in the evening.  A touch of fitness to complete the day.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2010 HORNETS

The coaching staff met with the team late this morning to inform the players who would be retained for the 2010 season.  A lot of time and effort has been invested by these individuals over the summer and they have set the foundation for a very exciting season.



1     Amanda Mancini
2     Rachel Fine 
3     Megan Burns
4     Julia Schroeder
5     Jordan Meeth
6     Chelsea Smith
7     Jordan Lewis
8     Nicole Shelly
9     Jackie Short
10   Eva Schmidt
11   Emily Gray
12   Maya Smolcic
13   Jenn Gateley
14   Zari Haggenmiller
15   Cierra Gillard
16   Steph Verbeek
17   Hilary Marusak
18   Rachel Pitzer
19   C.J. McCarthy
20   Beth Ansaldi
21   Megan Martinez
23   Sam Voss
24   Natalie Reszka
25   Courtney McCoy

The Hornets are made up of 6 Freshmen, 11 Sophomores, 3 Juniors and 4 Seniors.  21 are from the state of Michigan, 2 from Washington (the state), and 1 from Colorado. 17 players return from a year ago and 1 is returning to the team after spending her junior year on study abroad in Ecuador.  The team is off to a good start but have PLENTY of work ahead of themselves in the days and weeks to come.
 
Morning: The Hornets were delayed a little to begin as all hands of the training staff were called into action as the Hornets regular trainer (Marci) headed over for a certification at WMU.  Once practice began the theme for the morning was combining.  Technical work focused on the finer aspects of the wall pass and of course a Hardy Fuchs (legendary K men's coach) favorite, the back heel.  After the initial repetitions the team played a couple games of 2v1 before moving to practice take overs leading into a shot.  The morning would end with an 11 v 11 full field scrimmage which lasted approximately 15 minutes.

Afternoon:  Building on the individual defending which the team worked on the second day the team gradually built on their movements as a unit.  Reading ball movement and visual cues from attackers in order to position themselves to make life tough on the offense.  The session ended with a relatively large scrimmage and then a pursuit fitness game which is not necessarily classified as fun.  With the naming of the team this afternoon and the team and a strong effort at training, morning trainings will begin at 9am (initially 8am) to the delight of the players and training staff.

GO HORNETS!!!

Day 3

The morning of Day 3 began with the infamous beep test.  The team ran the test in two groups and then focused on 1v1 defending for the remainder of the morning session.  Throughout the training the attacking was clearly superior to the defending.  Individual team defending was identified as an area that the Hornets can improve on from the prior year and will be a major focus for the 2010 campaign.

Tuesday afternoon the focus migrated from defending to attacking.  The team worked on passing, possessing the ball and controlling the speed of play during the day's second session.  A passing warm-up to improve and refine receiving and passing was followed by 3v1 and then 5v2.  In a space a little bit larger than half field the team was broken into two squads and instructed to play possession while working to keep a team shape.  The quality gradually improved before calling it a day. 



Girls are working hard, trainers and coaches trying to keep pace!

GO HORNETS!!!

Day 2 Done!!!

Fitness Test-Check
Training, Skill Work and Small Sided Games-Check
Lunch-Check
NCAA Rules Meeting-Check
Nap-Check
11v11 Scrimmage-Check
Ice Bath-Check
Dinner-Check
Sleep Time-Check

Two-A-Day practices continue tomorrow.

GO HORNETS!!!

WELCOME TO KALAMAZOO!!!

On pristine day in Kalamazoo, Coach Goyings welcomed back 19 returning players and 8 newcomers as practice for the 2010 season is just hours away from beginning.  Sunday consisted of moving into the dorm, a meeting with the first years and their parents, a quick check-up by the training staff, baseline concussion testing, a team meeting, team dinner, and then another meeting with the training staff.  Tomorrow the fun will begin with fitness testing bright and early at 8am and then, finally, it will be time to play some soccer.  The first day of the preseason is always memorable and the team and coaching staff are already hard at work making sure that the 2010 season will be one to remember too. 

GO HORNETS!!!

Women's Soccer Earns Team GPA Award

The women's soccer team was one of six Kalamazoo College athletic programs to be recognized with the MIAA GPA award.  In order to qualify for the award the team needed to have a cumulative GPA above 3.3, the team average for the 2009-10 school year was 3.32.  This award is a true testament to a team effort in the classroom and certainly an accomplishment all members of the women's soccer program should be proud of.  GREAT WORK TEAM!!!


GO HORNETS!!!