Clarksville, TN – With the July calendar reaching its mid-way point, it leaves less than a month before the Austin Peay State University soccer team returns to the pitch to open its 2019 season.
The Governors were 8-8-1 overall in 2018 – including a 3-6-1 mark in Ohio Valley Conference play – under then first-year head coach Naomi Kolarova and enter the season looking to put the pieces together to replace 11 players off last year’s roster, while also looking to make a return to postseason action.
Leading the returnees for the Govs are a pair of All-OVC Second-Team selections in junior mid-fielder Claire Larose and senior mid-fielder/defender Renee Semaan along with keeper Mary Parker Powell.
Larose led the team in scoring last season, with seven goals – including two game winners – with Semann playing in all 17 matches and helping a defense that only gave up 1.27 goals per match, while Powell recorded 54 saves in stopping 74 percent of all shots on goal that she faced in 2018.
Some other returning Govs to watch out for in 2019 are junior forward/midfielder Morgan Drawdy (three goals and one assist), junior mid-fielder/defender Katie Kenward (led team with three assists), sophomore forward Rachel Bradberry (two goals in three SOG) and junior forward/defender Ashley Whittaker (goal and assist).
The Govs also return seniors Meghan Dees and Melody Fisher; juniors Gybson Roth and Abby Therrell and sophomore Gwynevere Cardinal, who all appeared in at least 11 of 17 matches last season.
Joining all the returners will be 12 newcomers – including four transfers – junior mid-fielders Maeve Kelly (Chattanooga) and Ellory Ferris (North Idaho College) and sophomores Tara Mannix (mid-fielder/defender, Limerick Institute of Technology) and Lexi Maslowski (mid-fielder, Highline College).
Rounding out the group of newcomers will be eight true freshmen, including four international players (Ellie Hawcroft, England), Anna McPhie (New Zealand), Dagmar Voerman (Netherlands) and Chloe Dion (Canada).
This group will be facing a challenging schedule in 2019, opening with a pair of exhibition matches versus Georgia State (August 12th at Morgan Brothers Soccer Field) and Western Kentucky, in Bowling Green, KY.
The Govs will then make a trip out west to open the month of September facing Colorado and Northern Colorado before returning for its final pre-conference home match versus Evansville on September 15th.
Austin Peay opens OVC play at home versus SIU Edwardsville, on September 19th, before stepping out of OVC for a final time versus Cincinnati on September 21st, before closing out the season with nine OVC contests.
The OVC Championship Tournament begins November 1st, with the championship match be hosted by the regular-season champions home field on November 10th.
