Garden City, N.Y. – Thursday, September 5 marks the women's soccer team start to the 2013 campaign. The game against Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is the first in a 16 game regular season slate before heading into post-season play. Last year's squad posted a 11-7-3 overall record with a 6-6-3 Northeast-10 mark in and ended the season on a high note by making it to the tournament championship by way of two upsets leading up to the finals; the first finals appearance since joining the NE-10.
 
Third year Head Coach, Chris Armas and the rest of the Panthers have their sites on bigger and better things this year. "We want to pick up from where we left off and start the season running," stated Armas. "We have a lot of respect for the teams in our conference, but we've raised our bar and expectations of what we would like to achieve this year."

The Panthers were recently picked sixth in the Preseason Coaches' Poll despite

their tournament runner up finish in 2012 which included upsets against American International College and Merrimack. "We're in it for the long haul," described Armas. We fell just short of an NCAA berth last year, so we are going to used that as our motivation for this season."

Leadership/Captains:
At the forefront of the team, graduate student Sally Leahy, senior Aimee Goldstein and junior Sam Whitney will be the glue that bonds the team together and will be the leaders and captains of the squad. "The staff and I thought that these three girls exemplify what we believe leaders of our team should be," Armas said. "They're committed in classroom, humble individuals, team players and figures that the team looks up to and respects."

Attack
The Panthers graduated six players, five of which were starters, and lost more than half of their goal scoring contingent. Emily Masiello, Kaitlin Monteith, Alison Gronenthal and Sarah Cote combined for 18 goals and 11 assists.
 
"We have big shoes to fill after graduating most of our attackers," stated Armas of the void. "But we also have some bite and creativity up top as well as speed." Among the returners up front are Kelsey Malles, Christina Dutcher and Giselle Ortiz. The trio have a full year of collegiate experience under their belts and are expected to help the offense in multiple capacities.
 
Help will come from five new faces; sophomores Samantha Lanza and Erin Doherty (transfer from Bridgeport) and freshmen Victoria Antonino, Kelsey Simpson and Sarah Barone Stern. "These girls have shown some real promise up top during preseason and can be counted on to help us score goals."

Midfield
Armas believes that his midfield is the "engine that powers the team." Aimee Goldstein will be looked upon as a key component of the midfield and she will be joined by Melissa Rubin, Amanda Reverberi, Michelle Brown, Bianca Lastra and Mara Bush.

"They are the backbone of the team," describes Armas of his midfield. "They're a tough, feisty, and gritty group of players. They're ball winners and constantly make it difficult for the opponents to get their offense going." Additions include freshman Meaghan Simmonds and Holy Cross sophomore transfer, Melissa Duarte. "I think they will both fit well into the group of returners. They have that 'pitbull toughness and mindset' like the rest of the midfielders."

This year will feature another veteran back line that will be made up of Leahy, Taylor Groth, Taylor Salmon, Donna Liotine, Samantha Jehle, Chelsea Wollman and Erin Carey. "I spoke about our midfield being stingy, but our defenders are just as tough," stated Armas. "If you happen to get through the midfield, we have a confident, veteran back four. They're a cohesive group of hardnosed, proud, stingy defenders that will not go down without a fight. I always feel that defense wins championships and I believe we have a great starting point.

Goalkeeprs
"We're very pleased with how the goalies have come into preseason," said Armas. Sam Whitney, the Panther's mainstay between the pipes and two-time All-Conference award winner is joined by third-year player Kimberly Velazquez and newcomer Kelly Hiersche.
 
"Goalies are judged by how hard they are to score on, and they all pose a difficult time to get the ball past. We have great competition in the back and all three are pushing each other in a healthy way. We want to see them to make the saves they're expected to and every now and then show us something spectacular. We have consistency and a calm presence in the back which is our goal."
 
With preseason coming to a quick close, Armas and the rest of the Panthers are ready to jump into action this week. "This is my third year and this is the best preseason we've had. They girls came in very fit and the team spirit has never been better. With that being said, we still have to go out and earn everything because no one is giving anything in our conference."