YSU soccer team returns experience

YOUNGSTOWN — The 14th season of Youngstown State University’s women’s soccer team is the first for Head Coach Will Lemke.

Lemke, who has won 84 games in eight seasons as a head coach, inherits a team that returns 17 letter-winners, six starters, five of its top six scorers, a school-record holding goalkeeper and an all-league defender.

Coupled with seven talented newcomers, the Pen Penguins enter the campaign seeking marked improvement.

“We are looking to take the experience of the senior class, [which] has been through some ups and downs, and develop a sense of mental toughness and competitiveness,” Lemke said.

“The team worked really hard in the spring and really made some progress.”

The Penguins must recoup the loss of five four-year starters — Brittny Humphrey, Alex Lee, Caitlin Lee, Keeley Rice and Carrie Wack.

“We need to develop a sense of identity both offensively and defensively,” Lemke said. “I also want us to be the best conditioned team on the field.

“The infusion of the young talent and scoring ability combined with the experience and toughness of the upperclassmen will definitely be beneficial for us,” he said.

The Penguins’ last line of defense for the second straight season is senior goalkeeper Mariah Snyder.

In 2008, Snyder set school records for most shutouts in a single season and lowest goals-against average of 1.51.

Snyder also led the team with career-best 131 saves.

Snyder, who is in just her second full season as a keeper, tallied at least 10 saves four times, including a career-high 16 against Butler. She also posted 10 saves in a 1-0 shutout against IPFW.

Sophomore Nicole Klein also saw some game action, appearing in five games with two starts.

Klein turned in an impressive outing collecting 12 saves in a shootout win over Valparaiso first round of the Horizon League Tournament. Klein totaled 23 saves last season.

The defensive backfield suffer a major blow when Lee, Rice and Wack exhausted their eligibility.

However, the Penguins return a key cog in their back line with Horizon League All-Newcomer Team selection Kelsey Kempton. The sophomore from Strongsville was one of four players to start every contest last year and scored two goals and assisted on another.

Freshmen Amanda Barch, Lea Byers and Brittney Dowd will play.

Barch was a four-year letter-winner at Bishop Ready High School and earned first-team all-conference honors, while Dowd was a standout at Beaver Local High School in Lisbon.

Byers was a two-time all-district performer at Boardman High School.

The Penguins’ frontline is poised for a breakout campaign with three of team’s top scorers from a year ago returning up front.

Leading the strikers are seniors Jodi Bowlen and Jordan Gapczynski, and junior Lauren Brennan.

Bowlen and Brennan tied for the team lead with four each last season.

Other returners to the frontline include junior Taylor Pickens and sophomores Kara Cooper (Youngstown Christian) and Hannah Snyder.

Like last season, the midfield with nine players will be the deepest position, including fifth-year senior Rochelle Boone, senior Kate Bonn, junior Rebecca Thomas and sophomores Jessica McMurray, Kelly Storkel and Geneva Strelka.

Three newcomers — Lydia Allen, Katie Peterlin and Cori Stark — will shore up the midfield.