Kayla Springer | The Echo
As Taylor gears up for another season of fall sports, both the men's and women's soccer teams are excited for the depth and motivation the 2016-17 squads have to offer.
The men's team welcomes 10 new faces: eight freshmen and two transfers. With all these players contributing something unique to the team, according to Coach Ross, the culture of the team has improved tremendously from the previous season.
Coach Ross and the rest of the Trojans will look to its three seniors-Nate West, the team's most seasoned defender, as well as Griffin Gardner and Andrew Luetkehans-for leadership on and off the field. Other returning starters include sophomores Jeremiah Rader and Andrew Johnson, as well as juniors Sam Hardy, Lewis Nisbet and Gabe Saliba.
According to senior Gabe Partain, the team has a new feel but is excited and optimistic about the season to come:
"We had a great preseason here at Taylor where we bonded really well as a team. The new guys adjusted really fast and easy. We're off to a pretty good start at 2-1 and want to continue that streak as we go into big games against Judson and Olivet Nazarene."
The women welcome nine new players: eight freshmen and a transfer, and also find themselves with an expansive roster of available contributors. However, even with this new team dynamic, senior Shelbi Lowe said the team chemistry is better than ever.
"Although we have a huge group of freshman and a large group of seniors, our team is so close. I've heard many girls say this is the closest team they've ever been on and could possibly be the closest team Taylor women's soccer has had in the past three years."
The women welcome back starters in seniors Shelbi Lowe, Fayth Glock, Katie Wierenga and Brienna Kruit, as well as juniors Megan Kammer and Nikki Zaino and sophomores Lauren Engelkes and Savannah Porter.
Both head coaches are focusing on success on the field, but also on the processes involved in learning the skills of the game.
Women's head coach Scott Stan stated one of the team's strengths this year is having a lot of highly skilled people who put in hard work. Because of this, the team is able to concentrate on more than just the skills of soccer. "We're focusing a lot this year on one question: 'How does your sport make you a better person?' We want to not only be better players, but better people."
Men's head coach Gary Ross is taking a similar approach this year. "My only goal is to make the process great," Ross said. "There may be some individual or positional goals among the team, but I have no big picture goals at the moment. Sometimes goals can distract from the daily grind. We're just working hard to make the process great, and then come what may."
Both soccer teams compete at home tomorrow as the women face off against (RV) Georgetown University at 4 p.m. while the men take on Olivet Nazarene at 7 p.m.
"Photograph provided by Fayth Glock"
