Penalty kicks were the only difference for Kentucky Wesleyan women’s soccer crashing the conference championship final and playing for a chance at the national tournament last year.
The Panthers put it all on the line in the G-MAC Championship semifinals against Ursuline, but combined with an in-game injury to Breigh Haase, the dominoes fell.
Heading into the fall of 2016, KWC will look to build on a highly successful 11-win campaign that was highlighted with 10 in the conference schedule.
The Panthers would like to get back there and are using last year’s end result as extra motivation.
Head coach Jamie Duvall navigated to KWC to its best season in the league to date in 2015. He doubled the Panthers’ win total in G-MAC games from five to 10 and has now won nearly 62 percent of his contests since the Panthers joined the conference in 2013.
He brought in a total of 11 freshmen this fall and should have one of the largest rosters across the league with depth at each position.
Duvall has a trio of seniors on the roster (Ellen Tichenor, Natalie Hobgood, Penni Pluimer) after losing two all-conference players with Annie Elder and Katlyn Duke along with talented keeper Kathryn Dishion.
The Panthers have already scrimmaged Asbury and a total of 26 players were able to get significant playing time as Duvall and his staff evaluate personnel for opening day.
Haase scored 10 goals and had three assists in 15 games. She finished second on the team in points with 23 only to Duke and had a pair of game winners. She also doubles as a student-athlete on the track and field team and that speed translates noticeably when she’s in the open field.
The key for KWC will be supplementing the point production provided by Duke and Elder, who combined for 42 points (17 G, 8 A).
With five juniors having logged consistent playing time, the Panthers are still young with 19 underclassmen. The freshmen class will make an impact; time will tell how big that impact will be this season.
Head Coach: Jamie Duvall (6th season)
2015 Record (Overall): 11-4-1
2015 Record (Conference): 10-4-0
2015 All-Conference Performers: Annie Elder (First Team), Breigh Haase (First Team; All-Freshman Team), Katlyn Duke (Second Team)
Quotable: “I thought we played well and obviously had a strong season, but we didn’t reach our goal and that’s disappointing so I think we’ll use that for motivation this year and try to come back to achieve our goal.”
- Kentucky Wesleyan senior midfielder Ellen Tichenor
Records Watch: Breigh Haase is already on pace to become one of the league’s all-time premier scorers after averaging 1.53 points per game as a freshman…That average is currently sixth in conference history…Haase’s average of 0.67 goals per game is currently ranked fifth…Katlyn Duke ended her career in the top 10 at 10th in goals scored with 20…Kathryn Dishion finished her three-year career in the G-MAC third in total wins with 29 and also third in shutouts with 13…She also finished third in career saves with 232.