By: by Matthew Farhadi
Game Notes
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Kennesaw State women’s soccer team kicks off its 2010 season on Friday evening when the Owls take on the College of Charleston Cougars at 7 p.m. at Patriot’s Point Field in Charleston, S.C.
Kennesaw State has a record of 3-3 in season openers since switching over to Division I in 2004. Last season, they began a campaign that resulted in a third Atlantic Sun Conference regular season title and their second trip to the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship with a trip to Athens, Ga. to take on Georgia, falling to the Bulldogs, 6-0.
The Owls will have history on their side heading into Friday night’s match as these two squads have met twice in the past with head coach Rob King’s squad winning both contests. In 2006, Kennesaw State won at CofC by a score of 1-0, and in 2008 the Black and Gold took down the Cougars 3-0 at KSU Soccer Complex.
Kennesaw State returns nine starters and 17 total players from last year’s championship squad. Leading the way for the returnees is senior goalkeeper Staci Pugh. Pugh won all 11 contests for the Owls last season, and she allowed just one goal in two games during the A-Sun Championship on her way to be named the tournament MVP.
The leading returning scorer for the Owls is sophomore defender Jade Dempster. The Camberley, England native was second on the squad last season in goals (five) and points (16) and tied for second in assists (six), trailing just outgoing senior Caitlin Dingle in the first two categories.
Also among the top returnees for the Black and Gold is junior forward Kristin Marietta. Marietta, who scored four goals and had three assists last season for the Owls, was named this week to the A-Sun Preseason All-Conference team. She was also ranked as the 13th best player in the conference heading into the season by topdrawsoccer.com.
King is excited to begin the season and knows that the Cougars are nobody to take for granted, especially on the road.
“We're looking forward to the game. It's been a very close match the last two times we've played College of Charleston and we're expecting the same again,” King said.
The College of Charleston was picked to finish in third place in the Southern Conference Preseason Poll. The Cougars finished last season with an overall record of 12-7-2, and has eight starters returning from last year’s squad that had an 8-3 mark in conference play, including their leading scorer from 2009, junior Hannah Gmerek.
They open up the season with a new coach on the sidelines, as Christian Michner will be making his collegiate head coaching debut on Friday evening. Michner just took the helm of the program, taking the reins on Aug. 6 after long-time coach Kevin Dempsey departed the program for a spot on the Louisiana State staff.
Kennesaw State is coming off of back-to-back 1-0 wins in their two exhibition contests against Jacksonville State University and Georgia College & State University. Goals by freshman Alma Gardarsdottir and junior Kristin Kranick proved to be the difference in both matches.
