Season Preview

The Tiffin women’s soccer team will enter its first year of NCAA Division II competition looking to build from last year’s lofty accomplishments. Last year’s team finished the season with a 17-4-2 overall record, and did its best work in the NAIA Region IX playoffs. Wins against Mt. Vernon and Maine-Fort Kent led to a Regional Championship battle against nationally-ranked Houghton, which the Dragons won 1-0. The team competed in the NAIA National Tournament for the third and final time in the program’s history, and will now turn its sights on the NCAA. "Last year was terrific for our team," said Coach Rudy Brownell, "but we’ll face a whole new set of challenges this year."

The Lady Dragons will deal with the departures of Rachel Garofolo, Lauren Dittrich, and Jen Rosselit, all of whom earned First Team ICAA honors last year. "We lost some good players from last year’s team, but we have a very strong junior class coming back and a solid group of underclassmen that will need to step up and play," said Coach Brownell. "We only have two seniors on the roster, but many returning players have the experience necessary to compete at this level."

Sophomore Abby Grieser will take over for Rosselit at goalkeeper, with returning defenders Felicia Ruiz, Vickie Galaska, Deidre Abouahmed, and newcomer Kirsten White providing some stability to a team that had a record 14 shutouts last season. The midfielders will be the most experienced group, led by senior Niquita Amirkhanian. Amirkhanian earned ICAA First Team honors last year in addition to a NAIA Honorable Mention All-American selection after leading the team with 15 assists. Junior Renee Cain, an ICAA Second Team selection in 2006, returns after scoring 5 goals and 6 assists last season, along with juniors Ciara Gossett (2 goals, 4 assists) and Steffany Stoeffler (2 goals, 3 assists). Freshman Satu Hermunen will step in at the midfield position looking to immediately contribute to the team’s offensive success.

After sporting a 4-2 record versus NCAA opponents last year, the team is prepared to challenge some of the top teams in the region before making a splash in the GLIAC in 2008, but Coach Brownell understands what lies ahead for the team. "We’re aware of the level we need to be at to compete with the best Division II teams around, but we still have to work hard and stay within our game. It will be an interesting year, but if we stick together as a team and execute properly, we can play at a high level and be successful," said Brownell.