Dartmouth women's soccer head coach Theresa Wagner recently announced the recruitment of seven new players that will join the Big Green in the fall. The new additions hail from five different states and one Canadian province. The Class of 2016 is comprised of three defensive players, one defensive midfielder, two forward midfielders and one attacker.
The Big Green hopes that the new class of Katherine Bach '16, Jill Dayneka '16, Corey Delaney '16, Jackie Friedman '16, Catherine Granville '16, Lucielle Kozlov '16 and Kristen Vondrak '16 will bring plenty of new talent to the team for the upcoming season.
"Some of what we're looking for from them is speed up top and out wide so we can go forward and score more goals," co-captain Emma Brush '13 said. "Versatility is also always a good thing in an incoming freshman class to give us depth, and also just a fresh enthusiasm for the game to remind us why we're here and what we play for."
Most of the incoming class visited Hanover in the fall for recruiting visits, and each new member will enter Dartmouth with different talents but equally outstanding pedigrees.
"They are each very talented and we cannot wait to see what impact they will make on this team and our program," co-captain Aurelia Solomon '13 said. "We are so excited for next season."
Bach, a defender from North Carolina, played for the Charlotte Soccer Club Academy. She was a four-year starter at her high school and led the team to the Conference of Independent Schools Athletic Association Championship. Bach was an all-region and all-state selection, first and second team for the Charlotte Observer and has experience with regional and state teams and training centers.
Dayneka is a defender from Ohio and played for the Internationals Soccer Club. She was a four-year letter winner at her high school while leading her high school team to the state finals as a senior and her club team to seven Ohio North State Championships.
Delaney, a forward midfielder from New Jersey, played for the PDA Charge club team. She was also a four-year letter winner at her high school and led her team to a state championship. She was named all-area player of the year and was second team all-state in 2011. She led her club team to a national championship in 2010 and 2011.
Friedman is a defensive midfield player from California. Friedman was a four-year varsity letter winner, most valuable player of her high school and of the California Interscholastic Federation-San Diego Championship. She was a member of the All-San Diego CIF first team as a senior and second team as a junior. She led her club team to the 2011 Elite Club National League National Championship and won the 2009 U.S. Youth Soccer National Championship.
Rising sophomore Kendall Kraus '15 played on the same club team with Friedman before Dartmouth. The two played on the same side of the field and would often work off of each other to beat players, move up the field and take the ball to the goal.
"She's a very solid defender, but she's also very quick and contributes to the attack by flying down the sideline and serving balls into the box," Kraus said. "She also has a great shot."
Granville is a forward from Maryland and played for the Bethesda Soccer Club. She was two-time team captain at her high school, three-time MVP, three-time All-Independent School League and All-Gazette Honorable Mention in 2008 and 2010.
Kozlov, a forward midfielder from Canada, played for the Vancouver Whitecaps Elite Team. She was a member of the British Columbia Provincial Team from 2007 to 2010. She played a season for her secondary school and led the team to a first-place finish in the league and district championship in 2009.
Vondrak is another defensive player from California. She played for the Beach F.C. club team and was also a four-year varsity letter winner at her high school, where she served as captain her junior and senior years. She also received All-Bay first team honors, Daily Breeze All-Area selection and the Highest Impact Player Award.
"We are all really looking forward to welcoming [the new recruits] onto the team," Brush said.
This past fall, the Big Green finished with a disappointing 4-12 record primarily due to a lackluster offense, as Dartmouth scored only nine goals in the team's 16 games. The main goal for the fall is to move forward and focus on the attack, according to Brush.
"We're also trying to diversify our game so that we can be unpredictable, so trying to expand our skill set beyond what might have limited us in the past," she said.
The team has been working on these elements together during the offseason and will continue to work on them throughout the summer with the new freshmen. Brush said that Dartmouth's unsuccessful season last year wasn't all the team had to offer.
"We have a lot of talent and also a lot of drive because we're coming off a season that didn't reflect how good we were or how much we had put in," she said.
Dartmouth will kick off its 2012-2013 season with an exhibition game against the University of Montreal at home on August 19.
