Tanner Colvin
Contributor
Troy Soccer is back on the field preparing for the 2020 season.
“We are very excited about the opportunity to get on the field and compete in the upcoming season,” Head Coach Ged O’Connor said. “We have a number of talented student athletes who have been off the soccer field for many months, and they are chomping at the bit to get back out there and compete.”
The Trojans are coming back from a stellar 2019 season where the team finished with a winning record of 12-3-4 and were seeded second for the Sun Belt Conference tournament.
However, the squad has lost team captain Kierstein Edlund who led the team in points with 20. Edlund set the single season assist record last year with 12 and set the career assist record (18) during her time at Troy.
Troy also lost Natali DaSilva who lead the team in goals with six and finished with a total of 16 points, the second most on the team.
With the approaching 2020 season, the Trojans have a good team prepared for play.
The Trojans have big returns such as sophomore forward Melissa Kuya-Strobel, who had the second most goals in 2019 with five and had the third most points. Sophomore goal keeper Gaby Cossette served as the backup last year, played in 3 games and made her first start against Jacksonville. Cossette had a total of five saves with a perfect save percentage (1.000).
Troy also has an impressive number of freshmen joining the team this year. With a total of 12 newcomers, the team’s future is looking bright.
“The incoming freshmen have quickly slotted into the program with the returning players and we are seeing the group come together quicker than we would do under different circumstances,” O’Connor said. Although we are very young, we are very excited to be able to put on the cardinal and white and compete for Troy University”
The freshmen group consists of goalkeepers Catherine Boatwright and Lindey Laroche; midfielders Caroline Todes, Mia Tessier, Eva Kristjansdottir, Gabrielle Chartier and Evie Anderson; forwards Erin Bloomfield, Sydney Babineaux and Alicia Victoria; and defenders Pagie Hunt and Brooke Essegian.
The Sun Belt Conference has announced it will delay the first permissible date of competition for the 2020-21 academic year to Sept. 3. The soccer schedule has not yet been announced.
