Live Stats

RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University soccer team will kick off the 2016-17 athletics season at Ball State on Friday at 5:00 p.m.

Ball State went 14-3 (10-1 MAC) and won the Mid-American Conference regular season title last season. The Cardinals are the favorites to win the MAC West this year.

The EKU soccer program, meanwhile, finds itself in a state of transition in 2016: new coaches, new uniforms and nine new players, several of whom will likely see significant minutes this season.
 
Despite all the changes, first-year head man Nick Flohre likes what he has seen so far during the preseason.
 
"This preseason has been one of growth, with all the new ideas from the coaching staff, working in new players and all the change we've been preaching to the team," Flohre said. "The good thing is, the players have been very open-minded to the new concepts we're presenting them. They're starting to catch on, and it's starting to click."
 
Flohre – who had success as an assistant coach at Iowa and Ohio State before arriving at EKU in the winter – also believes the team's nine freshmen could play a key role this season.
 
"Our freshmen are starting to get more comfortable and gain more confidence, and I think our second exhibition showed the amount of talent that they have," Flohre said.
 
EKU finished last season 4-14 (4-6 OVC) and just missed out on the OVC Tournament for the third consecutive season. The Colonels have been picked to finish 10^th out of 11 teams in the OVC this season.
 
"We are all prideful people, and we don't want to be looked down upon," Flohre said. "The players have used that as motivation, because they know their talent level and capabilities are far better than what's being expected of them."
 
The following is a position-by-position look at the 2016 Colonels.
 
 
Defenders
 
The Colonels graduated both of their starting outside backs from last season in Amani Thomas, a first-team All-OVC performer, and Merrissa Vault. However, Flohre thinks there are several talented defenders on EKU's roster waiting to step up and take their place.
 
"It's a next-person-up type philosophy with the backline," Flohre said. "Amani and Merrissa were very successful, and we'd certainly love to have them back. But now it's time for new players to step in and take over those roles. There are players on the roster that are highly motivated and that have worked incredibly hard over the summer."
 
The defense will benefit from the return of sophomore Kacy Eckley, who was the only Colonel to start all 18 games last season. The rangy center back also played the most minutes on the team (1,541) by a large margin.
 
Eckley is joined in the back by fellow veterans Mikayla Brillon, Makenna Sullivan, Sutton Edwards and Annika Pater.
 
The defense should also receive a boost from a pair of converted offensive players: Logan Harvey and Haley Kemper. Harvey, a junior, led the Colonels with seven points in 2015, notching two goals and three assists while playing up front. This year, however, she will use her fitness and athleticism on the outside of EKU's backline. Kemper, a redshirt sophomore, scored a pair of game-winners from the midfield last fall, but will drop back to play in the center of the Colonels' defense in 2016.
 
Freshmen Larissa Heslop, who recorded an assist in EKU's exhibition draw versus Wright State, and Kirsten LaPlante have also looked good in the preseason, and both should compete for playing time on the backline.
 

Midfielders
 
"We want to play through our midfielders a ton," Flohre said. "Our midfielders have become great students of the game. They've been asking the most questions of any group, and that's because their role is very vital: they're trying to connect everyone on the field. They're the center of the wheel. And they've been putting in the work to make sure they see the field as well as possible."
 
Sophomore Monica Rios, who played the most minutes of any returning midfielder and was expected to play even more minutes this year, is currently out with an injury, but a pair of freshmen, Marian Wolski and Sam Eastes, have stepped up to fill her shoes during the preseason.
 
Two returning defensive midfielders, junior Allison Werner and sophomore Bailly Bounds, will also be looked upon to play a bigger role in 2016. Bounds appeared in all but one game as a freshman, scoring two goals and notching an assist. Werner, meanwhile, started a pair of games as a sophomore.
 
Sophomore Idalys Rea and freshman Izzy Poma could also be factors in the midfield for the Colonels.
 
 
Forwards
 
Eastern returns solid depth at the forward position, including its top two scorers from last season in senior Cassie Smith and junior Emmi Carroll.
 
Smith enters the year with 14 career goals, just three shy of the EKU record. The native of Ashburn, Va. recorded two goals last season, and will look to add even more this season as she puts a capper on her stellar Colonel career.
 
"Cassie's athletic ability and acceleration are tough to defend," Flohre said. "She gives us that ability to take on defenders one-on-one, and she also creates chances for her teammates."
 
Carroll scored five goals as a freshman and added three more last year as a sophomore.
 
"Emmi is a terror in front of the net," Flohre said. "She reads the spaces available, she reads the flight of the ball, she's very good out of the air, she's very good at redirecting touches … Emmi is just a goal scorer."
 
Smith and Carroll will have help on the frontline. Junior Jordan Foster, who led EKU with 33 shots last year, is back, as is sophomore Tara Claus, who played in 17 games and attempted 10 shots in 2015. Freshmen Kayla Childs and Erin Torrence, both of whom scored in the exhibition versus Wright State, will also see time up front.
 
 
Goalkeepers
 
Junior Anna Hall is EKU's lone returning goalkeeper. The native of Ross, Ohio has started 30 games over the last two seasons and she ranks fourth all-time at Eastern in saves (158) and shutouts (five).
 
However, two freshmen will push Hall for playing time this season: Bry Mandarino, out of Aurora, Illinois, and Lorah Pund, out of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
 
"Anna has the experience," Flohre said. "But Bry and Lorah have come in with good drive, and they're not backing down. It's nice to have competition at that position. At the same time, though, they all three work well together. We have a core of goalkeepers who encourage each other and want to challenge each other to get better."