By Patrick Fogarty
Last Season
After a difficult and frustrating season with the hounds finding themselves at the bottom of the table, they have only one thing on their minds: REDEMPTION
"It was difficult to see our season come to an end without a win, we were missing some key players and had a lot of new players join this season. We are already working towards next season and are looking to improve on what we did last season" - Naomi Meiburger (Head Coach)
Recruits
The upcoming season will include the addition of seven new recruits as well as one transfer student to help increase the depth of the team.
"I am extremely excited to join the hounds this upcoming season! I think we have a lot of potential and am looking forward to helping the team push to the next level" - Nicole Thomas (Class of 2022)
The Team
The 2018-19 team will feature 23 returning players, including captain Jourdan Ziff (Class of 2019), who missed most of the 2017-18 season due to injury, but should return to full fitness by the end of the Spring season.
" It was really difficult to be injured for most of this season but I have been working hard off the field and am looking forward to a great 2018-19 season for my Senior year!" -Jourdan Ziff
Another player looking for redemption from last season is keeper, Sumer Rahe. Sumer (Class of 2019) was named Patriot League Goalie of the Week during the season, although the team had a rough season, she was a bright spot.
"It was a very difficult season but we are looking forward to moving past it and focusing on the next one" - Sumer Rahe (Class of 2019)
Spring Season
The team kicked off their season with two key wins: 4-2 vs Towson and 2-0 vs JMU. A great start to the redemption season the team has been working towards.
"We are very happy with how the (spring) season began. We knocked off Towson who gave beat us early last season and James Madison University is another great team. We are looking forward to see what next season holds!" - Kevin Dempsey (Assistant Coach)
Goals For Next Season
Goals
The 2017-18 season saw the Hounds only depositing 8 goals in the back of the net. An all-time low for the team. The first step for redemption is putting balls in the back of the net.
The hounds started the Spring season strong, scoring 6 goals in 2 games, including this amazing strike from Casey McKenzie.
Chemistry
A another area the Hounds struggled was finding chemistry between players. The girls could not seem to find themselves on the same wavelengths and it negatively impacted them off the field.
The team has taken this to heart this spring season. They have incorporated many team building exercises into their trainings as well as attending a team retreat.
"It has been awesome to see the girls come together these last few months. The coaches are happy to see the girls grow closer on and off the field." - Morgan Ruhl (Assistant Coach)
Defense
The Hounds have been struggling at the back last season as well. They allowed 33 goals to cross the line in the 2017-18 season, a tragically high number which leaves a lot of room for improvement.
The team has been working hard in the off season to better control their defense, including moving captain Julianna Carbrera (Class of 2019), back to lead the defense from the center.
Strength and Conditioning
The final area for the team to improve is with their strength and conditioning. The team recently added Mark Plaisance, strength and conditioning coach, to help combat this issue.
The team took a visit to the Under Armour Performance Center to see what high level of strength and conditioning looks like.