The Ashland University women’s soccer team finished the 2022-23 season with a Great Midwest Athletic Conference tournament championship, numerous individual accolades and an appearance in the NCAA Division II postseason tournament.
Now, the Eagles are amidst a nail-biting offseason as they prepare for the opportunity to find their third consecutive conference tournament championship and build off of prior success in the coming 2023-2024 season.
“I don’t think mindset changes for us. The players who have graduated from this program from years past have left a standard of success for Ashland University women’s soccer,” said Head Coach Cayleb Paulino. “Our job as a group each year is to continue to raise the standard.”
Heading into the 2023-24 season, the Eagles will be without four key contributing starters. The team parted ways with goalkeeper Bri Rogers, defender Rylie Howman, midfielder Georgia Nagucki and forward Bailey Clark.
For the Eagles, those players brought home numerous accolades while being catalysts for the team’s previous two conference tournament championship seasons.
Clark and Howman were awarded with all-conference first-team honors, while Rogers and Nagucki were listed as second-team members. Alongside being named a first-team selection, Howman was given the Defensive Player of the Year honors by the conference for her contribution to the Eagles allowing just 16 goals on the season.
“Losing players like we did in our senior class is never easy,” said Paulino. “Each year we have had the next player up mentality when it comes to players graduating, getting injured, or whatever it may be.”
However, even with the team losing important players, Paulino highlighted that the team has exciting underclassmen that can fill in those newly-found voids.
“We have a large group of upperclassmen with our junior and senior classes who I am excited to see move into those leadership roles left from our graduating group along with younger players who will come in ready to compete,” he said.
Howman’s counterpart, Maddy Grabowski, is one of those players who will look to fill that leadership void on defense.
“It is going to be tough losing Rylie [Howman] for sure because we did have great teamwork and communication and experience together in the back line,” said Grabowski. “We have a lot of great girls coming up and some great transfers that will help us out tremendously and honestly I think will take us to an even higher level. It’s a tough loss with the girls that have graduated but we fill those spots with great people and players for sure.”
One of those great players is sophomore Dani Hicks, who emerged onto the scene as an exciting winger that can push the pace of play against opposing defenses.
In her freshman campaign, she recorded nine goals and five assists to go alongside five game-winners. Even in high-pressure situations during the team’s successful season, she helped the team thrive.
The Eagles will open up the 2023-24 season on August 31 in non-conference play against Division II powerhouse, Grand Valley State, a team they have not faced since April 16, 2021. However, in that contest, they were able to come out on top with a 2-1 victory.
Alongside the Lakers, the Eagles will go up against Ferris State in non-conference play on September 10. The last time the Eagles and Bulldogs went toe-to-toe against one another was in the opening round of the D-II postseason tournament last season, where the game ended in a dramatic penalty shootout going in favor of the Bulldogs.
“Against Ferris this fall, emotions will definitely be running high. Getting knocked out of the NCAA tournament by them last season definitely made a mark on our team especially because we had defeated them in previous matches,” said Junior Sydney McMillan. “However, I’m very confident in our returning and incoming players and I think we will come in strong this season, especially because of the work we have put in this off-season and the spring season.
As the season approaches, Coach Paulino is excited to see how his team can perform against one of the strongest lineups in non-conference opponents the Eagles have seen in history.
“I thought last year we had one of the toughest non-conference schedules in program history. This fall, our first four games are even tougher,” he said. “We have added Grand Valley to our season opener along with Rollins, Saginaw Valley, and Ferris to that list. Teams who are no strangers to the NCAA tournament.”
Opening up the season against top teams in non-conference play helps to prepare the team for conference play, where the Eagles look to continue their tear.
“I think the mindset is that we expect to win the conference again. Every year we want to build on what we accomplished the last so our goal is to make it farther into the NCAA tournament and be more successful there,” said Grabowski. “Everyone’s worked hard over the summer and I think conference play is something we expect to do well in again this year.”
