MSUB women’s soccer 2016 season preview

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Thursday, August 18, 2016 MSUB women’s soccer 2016 season preview

Having advanced to the GNAC Championships in three of the last four seasons, MSUB’s women’s soccer team is set to make a run back to the conference tournament as the 2016 season begins this week.

BILLINGS, Mont. – Advancing to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship tournament in three of the last four seasons, the Montana State University Billings women’s soccer team will set out for the fall 2016 season this week with a similar goal in mind.

The Yellowjackets, who finished the 2015 season with a record of 8-7-2 overall, earned a berth in the GNAC Championships with a fourth-place league finish at 6-5-1 in conference contests. MSUB was picked to finish in sixth place in the 2016 GNAC preseason coaches’ poll announced Tuesday, and will play its first exhibition match this Saturday at 6 p.m. against Rocky Mountain College at Yellowjacket Field.

“We have experienced players who know what it takes to get to the GNAC tournament, and we know it is not easy but it is definitely do-able,” said sixth-year head coach Wojtek Krakowiak. “I am excited about the group of players we have, and it will be a good mix of new players and returners.”

A trio of seniors will serve as the leadership core for MSUB, with one each on the defense, midfield, and offense units.

Having started 42 matches and played in 50 since her freshman season in 2013, senior captain Dana Lubieniecki will enter the season with the most experience on the squad.

During her junior season in 2015, Lubieniecki earned honorable mention all-GNAC after scoring two goals and assisting on two more. She started all 17 matches in the midfield, and her 1,525 minutes played were third-most on the team. “Dana has been here four years and has a really good picture of what it takes to be competitive in the GNAC,” Krakowiak said. “She is extremely skillful on the ball, and her technical abilities are among the best in the GNAC. She can score, pass, she has great vision, and is extremely fit.”

Lubieniecki is also a two-time academic all-GNAC pick, and earned academic all-region honors last year while carrying a grade point average north of 3.80. She will serve as the vice president for MSUB’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for the 2016-17 academic year.

Anchoring the defensive unit behind Lubieniecki is senior captain Kari Kastelic, who has played every minute of the last two seasons since transferring to MSUB from New Mexico Highlands University. In a total of 3,201 minutes at center back the last two years, Kastelic has contributed a pair of goals in 34 starts. She was a second-team all-GNAC performer in 2014, an honorable mention pick last year, and earned academic allconference and all-region honors in 2015 as well.

2016 Seniors (L to R) Kari Kastelic, Hayley Warren, and Dana Lubieniecki.

“Kari is very competitive and doesn’t like to lose, and you can definitely see that on the field,” said Krakowiak. “She is very aggressive in the back, and is definitely an all-conference player. It is really good to have a captain in the back who can see the whole field.”

MSUB’s third senior is forward Hayley Warren, who logged appearances in 14 matches last year after transferring from Shoreline Community College. Warren chipped in a pair of assists, and will look to have an increased impact up top this season.

“Hayley had a good spring, and she is extremely strong and dangerous on the ball,” Krakowiak said. “She can hold the ball up front for us, and we want her to be a leader on the team this season. She is going to come in and set the tone from the beginning.”

Along with Warren’s veteran presence on the offense, the ‘Jackets return their top-two goal scorers from last season in sophomore Alycia Wright and junior Jessica Spang. Wright led the team and ranked sixth in the GNAC with six goals last year, four of which counted as game-winners for the ‘Jackets. Wright was extremely efficient with her shots, placing 56.2

percent on target (18 of 32). Her most important goal of the year came in the regular-season finale, as she found the net against Central Washington in a 1-0 win that pushed MSUB into the conference tournament.

“Alycia had a great season last year, and I think she’ll do even better this fall,” Krakowiak said. “She is able to find gaps and create space, and put herself into positions where she can score. She is also a great passer, and is very dangerous in the final third.”

Beginning her third season at her hometown university, Billings Skyview alumna Spang is coming off of a five-goal, five-assist season as a sophomore in 2015. She picked up her second career GNAC Player of the Week honor last fall, and was an honorable mention all-conference pick by season’s end. A year after starting all 17 matches and totaling 1,516 minutes, Spang will be counted on heavily as a veteran leader on the field.

“Jessica’s work ethic goes above and beyond our expectations, and she does the little things right,” said Krakowiak of another academic all-conference honoree. “She is going to step up even more this year, and be more of a leader for us.”

The Yellowjackets welcome back five more sophomores who all saw the field a season ago, providing more experienced depth at every level of the team’s lineup. Bailey Griglio played in all 17 matches as a true freshman in 2015, scoring three goals and placing 11 of her 16 shots on frame. Griglio will look to play an increased role this season, building on the nine games that she started last fall.

Sophomore Forward Alycia Wright.

“Bailey did great as a freshman coming in and scoring three goals,” said Krakowiak. “She is a very creative player who is good on the ball, and she can play any position up front. I look forward to seeing her on the field this fall, and she can be a threat in the final third because of her technical ability.”

Sarah Coghlan is another sophomore who filled into a starting spot last year, as she ranked fifth on the team with 1,494 minutes as an outside back. Starting 13 matches and playing in all 17, Coghlan figures to be an important piece of MSUB’s defensive unit again this season.

“Sarah had a really good freshman year and made a good adjustment to the speed of the college game last season,” said Krakowiak. “She is a very tough defender to beat, is good in a one-v-one situation, and is extremely strong on the ball.

She also has a pretty good idea of how to go forward and see gaps, and doing a little bit more than just defending.”

Sophomores Dariann Oaks and Jordan Devoto also saw time as freshmen in 2015, and will provide further depth on this year’s roster. Oaks had one assist in eight games, while Devoto came off of the bench in three matches during her first season.

In goal the ‘Jackets will welcome back Lili Delgadillo, who started a pair of games as a true freshman last season. MSUB will also feature a pair of 6-foot-1 goalkeepers in sophomore Katelynn Kerkvliet and freshman Clancee Ferrin. Kerkvliet is

a native of Soldotna, Alaska and is transferring from the University of Mary, while Ferrin is a Billings native and graduate of Senior High School.

“We have three very good goalkeepers, and with our three scrimmages we will get a pretty decent idea of the strengths of each of them,” Krakowiak said. “Lili has been with us for a year, and is very confident and a good leader. She works hard in trainings and is an awesome teammate.”

Several true freshmen will have a chance to earn significant playing time this season as well, with 14 players total set for their first season at MSUB. Kalin Sandow, Courteney Shovlin, and Sarah Farris will make their collegiate debuts on the defensive unit, and will work alongside junior transfer Kylee Wolfe on the back line. The latter will be reunited with her Soldotna High School teammate Kerkvliet, after transferring from Highline Community College.

The ’Jackets have a wealth of new players who could see action in the midfield and up front, including Mackenzie Breeden, Claire Tevaseu, Erin Reynolds, Amanda Hemmen, Alexa Iacolucci, Rachel Lythgoe, Alexa Torbert, and Kayce Moore.

“I’m excited about the good balance we have with the new group coming in,” Krakowiak said. “All of them can compete for starting positions and playing time on the field, and that is going to give us some depth that we need for this season.”

MSUB’s 2016 Freshman Class.

ABOUT THE COACHING STAFF Krakowiak was an assistant coach on the Yellowjackets’ staff for the team’s run to the 2010 NCAA West Region Championships, before taking over as the lead man prior to the 2011 season. Since then, he has compiled a record of 4928-11 (.619) overall and a mark of 36-23-9 (.596) in GNAC play. After leading MSUB to a second-place finish in 2014, Krakowiak was voted the conference’s co-Coach of the Year.

Assistant coach Stephen Cavallo will begin his third fall season with the ‘Jackets, having helped the team reach the conference tournament in each of his first two seasons. The Yellowjackets have gone 19-11-4 since the Charlotte, N.C., native joined the coaching staff, and he earned his Class C Licensure from the United States Soccer Federation in 2015.

“I am looking forward to continuing to work with Stephen, and he is very knowledgeable about the game of soccer,” Krakowiak said. “It is great to have him in the program for a third season with us.”

LOOKING AHEAD After the initial exhibition match against RMC on Saturday, the ‘Jackets will continue their preseason until taking on Colorado Christian University on Sept. 1 in Lakewood, Colo., to open the 2016 campaign. MSUB will also play Western State Colorado, San Francisco State, University of Mary, and College of Idaho on its non-conference schedule, before beginning the 12-game GNAC slate at home against Western Oregon University on Sept. 22. The top-four teams in the 2016 GNAC regular-season standings will earn a berth into the championship tournament, which will run Nov. 3-5 at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C. --@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--