Women’s Soccer Opens 2018 At Home Friday Afternoon
MEDIA, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine begins its fourth season of varsity women's soccer on Friday afternoon as it takes on The College of New Jersey, the No. 3 ranked team in NCAA Division III entering the year, on its home field at 4:00 pm. Here is a look ahead at the 2018 season:
THE TEAM
Nine letter winners from the 2017 team return for Brandywine, including seven who have at least two years of collegiate playing experience. Junior Brianna Banks, a two-time Penn State University Athletic Conference Player of the Year and two-time United States Collegiate Athletic Association All-American, has scored 50 goals in 30 games during her career to lead the offense. Classmate Rachel Weir owns 41 career points and has earned first team all-conference accolades each of her first two years with Brandywine, while Arianna Segich, one of two seniors on the roster, has also landed a pair of all-conference awards during her career. Junior goalkeeper Emily Bush was a freshman all-American and has racked up 23 wins and 13 shutouts in 28 games as a two-year starter in net.
THE COACHES
Brandywine is under new leadership for the second consecutive season as Elise Pratt was hired as head coach in early August. Pratt, who played NCAA Division I soccer at Stony Brook University and Delaware State University, enters her first season as a collegiate coach later this week. She currently serves as a club coach at Prestige Soccer Training in New Jersey. Assistant Coach Maxine New was a teammate of Pratt's at Stony Brook before completing her playing career as a two-time all-conference standout at Rowan University.
THE SCHEDULE
Brandywine has stepped up its non-conference schedule heavily compared to previous seasons. In addition to opening with TCNJ, a three-time NCAA Division III national champion, Brandywine faces local powers Cabrini, Rowan, Misericordia, Ursinus, Alvernia, Gwynedd Mercy and Wesley, with only the TCNJ and Rowan matches being played on the Lions' home field. Overall, 10 of Brandywine's 16 matches will be played on the road this fall.
THE CONFERENCE
Since its inaugural season in 2015, Brandywine has dominated PSUAC competition, compiling a 25-1-2 mark against its league opponents during that time. Winners of 19-straight conference games and two consecutive PSUAC championships, Brandywine plays eight league matches in 2018. The team faces Penn State Scranton and newcomer Penn State Lehigh Valley twice, while playing single games against Penn State Beaver, Penn State Mont Alto, Penn State Hazleton and Penn State Schuylkill.
LOOKING AHEAD
Despite being a young program, Brandywine has won back-to-back PSUAC championships and aims for a third-straight this season. With nine returning players, Brandywine will again battle for the top spot in the PSUAC again in 2018. The team has reached the USCAA National Championship in Virginia Beach each of the last two seasons with its best result coming in a 2-2 draw against Johnson & Wales (N.C.) in 2017. For the first time this season, the USCAA has split its soccer championships into two divisions, one for scholarship granting programs and one for programs without athletic aid, helping to even the playing field for all teams. This year's PSUAC championship game will once again be at University Park on Oct. 30, while the USCAA Tournament runs from Nov. 8-11.
