Women's soccer hopes to ride early season surge to Big 12 success

6-2-1 start one of best in school history

If the early returns on this season’s record are any indication, head coach Bill Hempen has built a solid foundation for CU women’s soccer. Although the team is missing half of last season’s roster, which reached the second round of the NCAA tournament, the 2006 team is off to one of the best starts in school history (6-2-1).

After losing the four players that had the most appearances in school history, 2006 was projected to be somewhat of a rebuilding year for Hempen and his staff. But thanks to a stellar group of freshmen and sophomores and solid senior leadership, the Buffs have ascended to No. 21 in the country after beginning the season unranked according to the latest NCSAA/Adidas rankings.

“Fitness wise (the freshmen and sophomores) were very fit and that allowed us to play more in preseason as opposed to concentrating on the fitness part of things,” Hempen said. “It is pleasing to see that (the freshman and sophomores) have done so well.”

While Hempen has been pleased with the play of his underclassmen, he is also quick to point out that this soccer team relies heavily on its seniors.

“It is perfectly laid out as far as the leadership is concerned in all aspects of the game,” Hempen said. “Every defender looks to Laura (Munnelly), every midfielder looks to (Allie) True, and every forward looks to Katie (Griffin), so it’s great.”

Coming into the season, the Buffs were projected to finish behind Texas A&M, Texas and Nebraska in the Big 12, but their start has catapulted them to the front of the group. Entering conference play, CU was ranked higher than any team in the conference at No. 11.

Senior forward Katie Griffin played for the U.S. under-21 National team this past summer in the Nordic Cup and has missed a good portion of the season because of a hurt ankle. Despite the loss of Griffin, Hempen believes his team has been able to play well because of its chemistry.

“We’re not built on superstars. We’re built on a nice little piece over here and a nice little piece over here and they seem to mesh,” Hempen said.

University of Northern Colorado head coach Tim Barrera, whose team was shut out by CU earlier this year in an exhibition game, believes Hempen deserves a lot of credit for getting his team to develop such a good chemistry so early.

“Coach (Hempen) does a good job of defining roles. His players are well-coached and they are still able to play at a high level despite injuries,” Barrera said. “I saw them play against Oklahoma and they are very dynamic.”

Following CU’s defeat of UNC, the team rattled off five non-conference wins. The team’s one non-conference defeat was suffered at the hands of a Utah team ranked No. 22 in the country at the time.

“I think we’ve come together as a team and we’ve worked really hard at practices. It’s hard when the seniors leave because you lose the basis and foundation of each drill, but we’re excited to get our game back and come together as a team which is hard to do so early,” said sophomore midfielder Alex Cousins.

After the Buffs got off to a 5-1-1 start in non-conference play, they began Big 12 play against the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in late September. The Buffs defeated University of Oklahoma at home 2-1, but lost at Oklahoma State 2-1 later that weekend. CU defender, senior Laura Munnelly, believes the young players have a good idea of what Big 12 competition is like.

“I think everyone came out of Sunday’s (Oklahoma State) game a little bit sore and I think they finally got a taste of what it’s going to be like every game,” Munnelly said. “Every game is going to be a battle.”

Munnelly knows a thing or two about Big 12 play. She is sixth on CU’s all-time appearances list and was a second team all-Big 12 selection last year. Like her teammates, she still believes this team has things to iron out as the heart of the Big 12 season approaches.

“Right now, I think we’re just trying to limit our turnovers a little bit because I think that hurt us a lot against Oklahoma State,” Munnelly said. “I think if we can minimize those and have as little mistakes as possible during the games that will help us a lot.”

Cousins agrees this team still has plenty of areas for improvement.

“We don’t move around for each other enough. Other than that, we need to crisp up our touches and make sure we don’t lose (the ball) in the middle,” Cousins said. “We have our foundation. We just need to perfect it.”

Despite the team’s good start, Munnelly thinks they still have to earn respect.

“I think people still don’t think too highly of us, but hopefully we’ll be able to prove some of them wrong,” Munnelly said.