BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Coming off a season in which they posted a 10-5-0 record, the Bellevue University women's soccer team will have questions to answer with a new coach, a roster that saw a lot of turnover in the offseason, and a schedule that rates among the toughest in recent memory.
Tom White, appointed the sixth head coach in the program's history during the offseason, takes the reigns of a consistent winner. The Bruins have recorded at least 10 victories in each of the last 15 seasons and made five-consecutive NAIA National Tournament Appearances from 2010-14.
White comes to the Bruins sideline after serving as an assistant coach to the BU men's team which was capped off by an unbeaten regular-season and their sixth NAIA National Tournament Appearance last season. Amy Tilley and Digger Hawkins are the assistant coaches; both bring strong records and many years of coaching experience at the youth level.
Earlier this week, Bellevue picked up the No. 3 ranking in the A.I.I. Preseason Ratings, behind 2018 A.I.I. Tournament Champion Georgia Gwinnett College and 2018 Runner-Up Viterbo University.
Georgia Gwinnett is the lone ranked team among the Independents in the NAIA Top 25 Preseason Coaches' Poll, coming in at No. 8 in the poll released on Wednesday afternoon. The Grizzlies went 17-4-0 last season and reached the Second Round of the NAIA National Tournament.
The Returners
Goalkeeper Sabrina Staufenbiel started all 13 games in goal last season for the Bruins and stopped 41 of the 58 shots on target that she faced for a .707 save percentage and helped to secure four shutout victories for Bellevue.
Defending should again be a strength of the Bruins in 2019 which is where Bellevue returns their most experienced crop of players. Three of Bellevue's four projected starters on the back line played in at least 12 contests last season. Sarah Zeleny and Saskia Pepel both started all 13 games and limited opponents to just 1.31 goals and 5.0 shots on frame per game. Emma Phillipson made 12 appearances, including a start a season ago while Lays Freitas is healthy after missing all last season with an injury. She played in 13 games in 2017, making 10 starts.
In the midfield Daisy Ochoa-Rojas, Rylan Mahoney, and Carolina Rincon return with a combined 22 appearances, three goals, and three assists last season. The midfield is the least experienced unit for the Bruins but has the potential to be an X-factor if they can mature quickly and adjust to increased roles.
Forward Emily Weyant was Bellevue's most reliable goal-scorer last season, racking up 10 goals in 12 games. She will be counted on to shoulder much of the offensive load again this season as just two other returners – Mahoney and Phillipson – found the back of the net multiple times in 2018. Jayda Noble joins Weyant up top after playing as a defender last year. She presents a formidable target for Bellevue's wingers and midfielders to play the ball forward.
Of the returners, three were all-A.I.I. selections a season ago. Pepel headlines the group as she was named the Newcomer of the Year in addition to being a first team selection while Staufenbiel and Weyant were each named second team honorees.
The Newcomers
Bellevue welcomes eight new faces to the squad, including four with prior collegiate playing experience.
Goalkeeper Alanya Hannigan (Manchester, England/Cloud County CC), defenders Emah Maahs (Waverly, Neb./Wayne State) and Chloe Madigan (Omaha, Neb./Wayne State), and midfielder Courtney Wallingford (Bellevue, Neb./Oral Roberts) all bring prior playing experience.
Hannigan played the past two seasons at Cloud County Community College, making 28 appearances and 25 starts in goal.
Maahs played significant minutes at Wayne State before suffering a season-ending injury last season while Madigan played two seasons at Wayne State in 2016 and 2017 prior to transferring to Bellevue to play volleyball in 2018.
Wallingford joins the Bruins from NCAA Division I Oral Roberts where she appeared in eight games as a true freshman in 2017.
Bellevue also welcomes four freshmen in the mix in midfielder Taylan Murphey (Waverly, Neb./Waverly HS), forward Kaycee Driever (Nebraska City, Neb./Nebraska City HS), and Angela Miranda (Bellevue, Neb./Omaha Bryan HS).
The Redshirts
Junior forward Austin Perez and senior midfielder Marilia Lages will each miss the season after suffering injuries while freshmen Maddy Vasquez (Omaha, Neb./Omaha Central HS), Jaedyn Tryon (Omaha, Neb./Burke HS), and Abril Mendez (Bellevue, Neb./Omaha Bryan HS) are all red-shirting this season.
The Schedule
The Bruins open the season on Thursday, Aug. 15 in Sioux City, Iowa at Elwood Olsen Stadium against Morningside at 6 p.m. It will be the first of three-straight road games to open the season as Bellevue also makes trips to play at William Penn (Saturday, Aug. 15) and MidAmerica Nazarene (Wednesday, Aug. 21) before their home-opener.
Bellevue will play their home games at Omaha Bryan High School's Bryan Stadium. The Bruins play a total of four home matches with the home-opener set for Saturday, Aug. 24 against Briar Cliff at noon. Bellevue is also scheduled to host Columbia (Wednesday, Aug. 28), Tabor (Saturday, Sept. 14), and Waldorf (Saturday, Nov. 2).
BU's 16-game regular-season schedule features a game against teams that are either ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 Preseason Coaches' Poll: at MidAmerica Nazarene (Wednesday, Aug. 21), vs. (RV) Columbia (Tuesday, Aug. 28), at Central Methodist (Saturday, Sept. 7), and at #18 Northwestern Ohio (Saturday, Sept. 21).
Among other schedule notes, Bellevue will play six games against schools from the Great Plains Athletic Conference, four against schools from the Heart of America Athletic Conference, three against Independents, and one each against schools from the American Midwest Conference, Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference, and Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.
The A.I.I. Tournament is slated to take place on Friday-Saturday, Nov. 15-16 in Lawrenceville, Ga. at the Grizzly Soccer Complex on the campus of Georgia Gwinnett College. The tournament champion will represent the A.I.I. in the NAIA National Tournament.
