EDINBORO, Pa. -- Most coaches would be disappointed to be picked sixth in their preseason conference coaches' poll. For Gary Kagiavas and his Edinboro Fighting Scots' women's soccer team, it is a compliment that the coaches in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference chose Edinboro to come in sixth in 2013.
Such is the strength of the PSAC in women's soccer. Edinboro has made the PSAC Playoffs the last three years, and been selected to play in the NCAA Division II Playoffs in 2011 and again in 2012. The Fighting Scots cracked the ice and won their first PSAC postseason game in 2011, and reached the conference semifinals again in 2012.
The year would end in bitter disappointment, however, as the Fighting Scots suffered a 2-1 loss to California(Pa.) in the PSAC semifinals, then fell to Slippery Rock in penalty kicks in the first round of the Atlantic Regional, as the two battled through regulation and two overtimes tied at 1-1.
2012 was still a remarkable season for the Fighting Scots. They opened the season with five straight wins, but then had a stretch where they split their next six games. Edinboro caught fire over the next seven games, going 5-0-2, despite losing Kagiavas two games into the stretch. The only coach Edinboro women's soccer has ever had, Kagiavas suffered serious injuries in an automobile accident, leaving Jamie Sallie to step in as interim head coach down the stretch. Edinboro would finish the year at 13-4-3, including 9-3-2 in PSAC action.
Kagiavas is now fully recovered and expecting big things out of his 2013 edition. "Our expectations have definitely risen every year for the last few years," related the veteran mentor. "Our goals the past two years have been to compete for the conference championship and make the NCAA tournament. We've accomplished those goals and were very close to winning both our conference semifinal game and our NCAA tournament game last season, losing in PKs.
"Our goals this year are to win the conference and make it to the final 16 teams in the nation and hopefully farther," he commented. "We know these goals are lofty and are very hard to achieve but we feel like this is the natural progression of a program on the rise. The returners have worked extremely hard this off-season, knowing how hard these goals are to reach. We will also be relying on our freshmen to step into starting roles immediately and accept a lot of responsibility."
Kagiavas can make such claims thanks to a veteran roster that features eight returning starters, including All-PSAC performers Liz Debo, Jansen Hartmann and Becca Costello. In addition, Meghan Kelly returns for her third season in goal.
Oddly enough, despite an experienced group returning, Kagiavas still fields a roster that does not have one senior on it.
Kagiavas has traditionally made full use of his roster, and that leads to a good deal of depth. "Our biggest strength will be our depth," admitted Kagiavas. "Our returning core is very strong, including our first and third leading scorers from last year. Our junior class has only known success in the past two years and has learned from our leaders in the past about what it takes to win. They have also become very good leaders over the off-season and have taken responsibility for the team. We also have 15 freshmen and transfers, many of whom will contribute immediately and have done very well in our first few days of preseason.
"Another strength should be offense," he predicted. "We return four of our key offensive players from last season who combined for 22 goals and 13 assists. We're hoping for those players to develop further and contribute even more."
The lack of a senior on the roster does lead Kagiavas to admit that youth is a concern heading into the season. "Youth is our biggest concern. We have 15 new players and no seniors. We will be relying heavily on our junior class for our leadership and the freshmen will need to contribute immediately. A concern that every coach has every year is injuries. One or two serious injuries can hurt any team."
The Fighting Scots will lean heavily on the likes of Liz Debo and Jansen Hartmann. Debo, a junior forward, led Edinboro in scoring a year ago with 14 goals and four assists for 32 points. She was a first team All-PSAC selection, and also earned second team NSCAA All-Atlantic Region honors. The 14 goals led the PSAC, and her 32 points ranked second in the conference. Both totals were also the third-most in program history.
Hartmann, a diminutive midfielder/forward, added five goals and five assists for 15 points. That was good for third on the team. She was accorded second team All-PSAC and NSCAA All-Region honors.
Hartmann and junior Allyson Overly are the only returning players to start all 20 matches. Overly, a midfielder, finished with a pair of goals.
Becca Costello and Lauralee Clements started 19 matches. Costello, a junior midfielder, was a third team All-PSAC selection after contributing a goal and four assists. Clements, a junior, will key the backfield. She scored one goal.
Meghan Kelly returns for her third year as the starter in goal. The junior finished with a 12-4-3 record and had a 0.90 goals against average. She recorded 100 saves and had six shutouts.
Other top returnees include sophomore defender Hayley Wagner, a starter in 14 matches, along with sophomore defender, Reilee DuPratt, and junior defender/midfielder Ashley DeVito.
"Both of our goalkeepers from last year return again as juniors," assessed Kagiavas. "Meghan Kelly was the starting goalkeeper last season and will be needed to do very well again. Mary Murray has been our backup keeper, starting one game last season. She will challenge Meghan for playing time this season. We will be relying heavily on Lauralee Clements to anchor our defense this year from center back. Hayley Wagner and Reilee DuPratt saw time at outside back last year and will be expected to contribute again. Kayla Briggs has come in great shape and will compete for a defensive spot. Becca Costello and Ally Overly are returning in center midfield with two years of starting experience. We will lean on them heavily for leadership and goal scoring. Ashley DeVito will add size and strength to our midfield in a defensive midfield role. Liz Debo and Jansen Hartmann return up top for us. They were our first and third-leading scorers last year, respectively. They will be relied upon heavily for both goals and assists. Alexis Becker will also compete for playing time in both the midfield and forward.
While a youthful lineup could make things a bit interesting from time to time, the powerful PSAC will challenge the Fighting Scots on a daily basis, and leave for few breathers. "The PSAC is always an extremely hard conference," Kagiavas stressed. "Our conference was ranked the fourth-hardest and most successful conference in the nation last season according to www.bennettranking.com. We also have five teams ranked in the top 25 in the nation with Edinboro ranked 22nd."
Edinboro will open the 2013 campaign on Thursday, September 5, playing at Millersville in a PSAC contest. The Fighting Scots came away with a 2-0 win against the Marauders a year ago. Millersville finished the year at 5-8-5 and is picked to finish 12th in the PSAC preseason poll.
Two days later the Scots will play their home opener, hosting Shippensburg in another PSAC fray. Edinboro was also a 2-0 winner against the Lady Raiders last year. Shippensburg ended 2012 at 6-9-3 and is picked to finish ninth in the PSAC this year.
