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August 25, 2006 > Sports > Keys to improvement lay in scoring, goalkeeping

Keys to improvement lay in scoring, goalkeeping

By Matt McCabe | Thresher Editorial Staff

If there’s one thing Rice soccer teams have been known for, it’s defense. The team won its first conference championship with three consecutive shutouts in the 2005 Conference-USA Tournament, beating three opponents by a combined score of 6-0.

Goalkeepers Lauren Shockley (Martel ‘05) and Adriene Giese have been critical to that defense. However, Giese, the 2006 C-USA Tournament defensive MVP, left the team for undisclosed reasons.

Giese’s departure leaves a hole in the back of the Owl defense, one that has yielded opportunity to two seniors, three-year letterman Amy McClintock and first-year senior Kristina Hoban, formerly a setter for the volleyball team. McClintock has played in just four regular season games in her career at Rice — without a start — and Hoban was drawn to the team due to her sheer athleticism. Their inexperience leaves a huge question mark for the 2006 squad.

“With Amy McClintock and Kristina Hoban both wanting to start, they are really pushing each other,” head coach Chris Huston said. “Hoban has been an unbelievable leader on team already. She went out this summer and was serious about her training. The girls respect her and she’s an elite athlete.”

With the seniors sharing the goalkeeping spot, Huston only had to fill one position by recruiting: the one vacated by senior defender Erin Droeger, one of the best soccer players in the team’s six-year history. Freshman defender Kellen Schugart is the early favorite to start on the back line.

“Our defense has always been solid,” redshirt sophomore forward Caitlin Robbins said. “It’s a shame to lose Droeger, but Schugart is very strong on the ball. She makes runs out of the back like Droeger used to.”

Two of the three returning defenders are team captains. Junior Beth Martin, a second-team all-C-USA selection in 2006, was voted the preseason defensive player of the year by C-USA coaches. Martin is joined by senior Laura Barber and sophomore captain Alexa Coralli on the defensive front.

Martin said she does not like to be a very vocal leader.

“I don’t feel so comfortable being put in the spotlight,” Martin said. “Leading by example is being confident in the air, making runs up, making plays on the outside and being part of the act. It’s hard for the freshman transferring from club ball to Division I ball. Showing them how to play at that speed is something that I can show them.”

While defense is the banner of Rice soccer, the midfield has been an area of depth, and that will not change in 2006. The Owls returns all starting midfielders. Senior Vanessa Serrano, junior Samantha Conn, sophomore Ashley Lucas and sophomore forward/midfielder Anne Candee return to the midfield, which should be a strength for the Owls.

Candee, the offensive MVP of the 2006 C-USA Tournament and Rice’s assist leader last year, scored three goals and notched two assists in the tournament. Lucas, a member of the C-USA all-freshman team, should improve her offensive output in the middle of the field this year with a season under her belt.

The depth of the midfield is apparent. Senior Maria Fadool, who has played a team-high 63 games in her Rice career, will be the first off the bench if she does not start. Junior Traci Fraser and sophomore Christine Petric will also vie for playing time. Freshmen Stephanie Crain, Katelyn Ostendorf, Jessica Ross and Shelley Wong will all look for time in the middle as well.

The Owls return two explosive players at the top of their formation. Robbins and junior Clory Martin carry different mentalities, which works in the team’s favor. Clory Martin uses above average speed and explosiveness to get to the outside, whereas Robbins’ strength is goal scoring.

“When I’m on, I’m really good,” Clory Martin said. “But I’m terribly inconsistent. That’s probably why I’m entertaining to watch.”

Robbins totaled 35 points last season with a team-leading 14 goals and 7 assists. Nine of her goals came in C-USA play, and many of them were in pressure situations. Robbins led C-USA with 5 game-winners.

“What we knew about Caitlin when we recruited her was that she is an unbelievable goal scorer,” Huston said.

After a standout freshman campaign with seven goals, Clory Martin’s production dipped considerably in her sophomore year with just two. However, she performed exceptionally well against Northwestern State Aug. 18 in an exhibition match, scoring an early goal.

“If anybody watched our game against Northwestern, it’s the old Clory back,” Huston said. “She had a great game.”

Clory Martin said pressure affected her drop off last season.

“Sophomore year I plummeted,” she said. “It was a lot of pressure to do just as or better [than freshman year]. “I had nothing to lose as a freshman.”

Senior Brandy Bellow and freshman Erin Scott should also see time at forward. Scott scored a goal in the Owls last exhibition match against Northwestern State.

Beth Martin said she feels high expectations for the 2006 squad.

“This is definitely the best team talent and skill wise that Rice has ever seen,” she said. “It’s an exciting and terrifying thing at the same time. The thing that runs around in my mind the most this week is the pressure of expectation. We must take the steps that we need to get there.”

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