Monday, December 3, 2012

Women's Soccer Loses Eight


St. John Fisher Women’s Soccer celebrated its last home game with a 1-0 win over Elmira College. In doing so, the players also honored their eight seniors. The team has had a fantastic season and a large part of the credit goes to all of the seniors. Out of the eight, six of these seniors are in the starting line-up of eleven. It will be sad to see them go, as they each contributed so much of the team in their four-year soccer careers at St. John Fisher College.
“It’s so rare that a senior class is so large, and the junior class behind them will most likely have more seniors next season,” alumna Kaitlin Moran states. Last year, Moran was the sole senior.
The unusually high numbers of upperclassmen just goes to show how strong team relationships are. Furthermore, having so much familiarity with playing styles and personalities allows the team to accomplish more. “Everybody out there knows everyone’s playing style and their strengths and weaknesses. It really shows and has helped us accomplish a lot more,” sophomore Kaylee Gebhardt states. Each of their accomplishments can be found on the 2012 roster page.
When looking back on their accomplishments, it is obvious that each and every one of these seniors will be missed and the team will have to do a lot of rebuilding and recruiting in preparation for the 2013 season, however, the senior game was a great day of celebration. The weather could not have been nicer and the sentimental honoring of each senior and their parents was a great start to the game. To make a perfect ending to a perfect day, the team won another conference game against Elmira College. This win was huge; it locked the team into post-season Empire 8 tournament. With one more chance to win the conference, the seniors will do their best to lead the team.

Fisher Women's Soccer's Strong Start


The St. John Fisher Women’s Soccer team has started off with a bang. The 2012 roster looks incredibly promising as they start their season off with the best record they have ever had under Head Coach Jill McCabe.
During a preseason tournament, the team outscored its opponents 12-2 in both games. However, the statement didn’t end there! Recently, the team tied its long-time rival Nazareth College. This tie ended the 20-year winning streak Nazareth had over Fisher and marked the first “victory” of their neighboring rival since McCabe became the head coach at St. John Fisher. The Cardinals might attribute their success to the experienced percent among them. This year, the team will say goodbye to eight seniors, all of whom have contributed a lot to the team throughout their college careers.
It is not just the experience that has set the team apart from other years though. The team has a large percent of experienced underclassmen as well, consisting of nine juniors and seven sophomores. While the team also has impressive underclassmen, the team chemistry has been at an all-time high this season.
 “Everyone seems to really care about one another” states junior captain Katie Burgstrom. The cliché “There is no I in team” holds true this season. Every player who gets the chance to be out there seems to have been playing unselfishly and putting the team first. The girls put a strong emphasis on team bonding and unity and McCabe provides several opportunities for bonding to take place. “Each year we have a Halloween party at coach’s with a great meal and each class makes costumes and competes in the costume competition. It’s such a great way to bond outside of soccer. We really are friends on and off the field,” states Burgstrom.
With the amount of talent and experience this season along with the great team chemistry the seasons have one last opportunity to lead the team to the NCAA Tournament. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out with such a talented group of team players!