Soccer looks to repeat championship season
The 2015 Rice women’s soccer team is coming off what was perhaps their greatest season in school history. Last season, the Owls closed out the season with a 14-4-3 overall record. The 14 victories tied the school record for most wins in program history, while the four losses set the record for fewest losses in program history. Additionally, the Owls went undefeated at home, securing six victories and two ties. The program set another record by maintaining a nine-match unbeaten streak from Aug. 24 to Oct. 5, 2014. As the No. 2 overall seed in the 2014 Conference USA tournament, Rice won all three matches and earned an automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA tournament as conference champions for just the third time in school history. The historic run ended at the hands of the University of Texas, Austin in the opening round of the tournament. In 2015, Rice was selected by the Conference USA head coaches to finish first in C-USA for the first time since 2001. The accolades did not finish there as senior forward Lauren Hughes was named the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and junior defender Jenny Fichera was named Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Senior forward Holly Hargreaves rounded out the honors as a member of the C-USA All-Conference team. Despite losing four key players to graduation in goalkeeper Amy Czyz, midfielder Gabriela Iribarne, defender Ashton Geisendorff and midfielder Quinny Truong, a core group of remaining starters and a talented recruiting class have not dampened any expectations for the upcoming season. Six true freshmen from all over the country have already contributed to the team’s chemistry and success. The freshman trio of midfielder Dominique Mazero, defender Gabby Martinez and forward Annie Walker has already seen significant playing time early in the season. Additionally, junior transfer from the Air Force Academy Madeleine Lundberg promises to make an impact this season.Hughes is coming off a season in which she earned C-USA Offensive Player of the Year honors. She led not only her squad but the entire conference in goals and points with 14 and 35, respectively. The Ottawa, Ontario native has one more year as a Rice Owl, but has already set the Rice record for career goals with 33 and points with 88. During one stretch in the 2014 season, Hughes scored in seven consecutive matches, also setting a Rice record. On the defensive end of the pitch, Fichera was a staple of a 2014 defense that posted 11 complete game shutouts on the season. Fichera has been a starter for all 39 games of her Rice career and has recorded 90 or more minutes in 18 of 21 matches played last season. In addition to her defensive abilities, Fichera has the capability to attack from an advanced midfield position, scoring four goals last season and serving in five assists. The final preseason honor by a Rice Owl was awarded to Hargreaves, who was the complement to Hughes all season long. Hargreaves ranked among the top in C-USA and the NCAA last season with 10 goals to her name. She broke the Rice school record for goals in a single game with four against Louisiana Tech and is currently the school record holder with 12 game-winning goals and 209 career shots.Head Coach Nicky Adams, who was awarded C-USA Coach of the Year last season, spoke highly of Hughes and Fichera and said they are deserving of the recognition. “It’s very exciting that those two have been recognized,” Adams said. “They completely are 100 percent deserving of those accolades. Again, those are two players who have been nothing but steady for our program. Lauren Hughes is scoring goals and Jenny Fichera provides us a spark in the back so I think they got the voting right on that one.”According to Hughes, the accolades are representative of Rice’s increasing success and attention.“To have Jenny and I named to those spots just shows that the conference really respects our team and to be tagged as the team that’s going to go out there and is expected to win it, that’s a huge compliment,” Hughes said. “[Preseason awards] show the respect we’ve earned from our conference and I just hope that we are willing to do the work and live up to the expectations our conference has for us.” Adams said the team will respond to high expectations with confidence and hard work. “It’s definitely a target on our back off the gate and we can do one of two things: freak out from the pressure, or take it and have confidence and grow from it,” Adams said. “With the personnel we have on our team, I think it will be the latter to do that.” According to Fichera, the team needs to take control of games early on and not allow the media’s expectations to interfere with their play.“We need to keep coming out here every single day and realize what we have on our shoulders,” Fichera said. “Everyone’s going to be gunning for us and we need to be ready for it every single game. I think it’s important just for us to play our game. Let us dictate the pace and how fast we are going to play, how slow we are going to play, and not play down to the teams we play but play our best at every opportunity.” The team split two games against Texas A&M University and San Jose State University in the opening weekend of the season. The team will next play at Texas A&M, Corpus Christi Aug. 28, and will return to Houston Aug. 30 to play Sam Houston State University at BBVA Compass Stadium.
