A little more than a week from now the Creighton Bluejays women’s soccer team will begin their 2015 regular season at home against the South Dakota Coyotes. Head coach Ross Paule leads a brand new coaching staff that has high expectations for this program, and he’ll have just six regular starters back along with a host of other experienced players from a team that got off to the best start in school history in 2014 before struggling in Big East play and ultimately missing the conference tournament for the second year in a row.

Who’s Gone from Last Year’s Squad?

The Bluejays will have to replace nine players from a team that finished eighth in the Big East and ended up with a 10-6-2 mark overall. Departures from that squad include graduating seniors Angela Benson, Madelyn Buckner, Addison Nokels, and Stephanie Anasi. Benson and Buckner were team captains who organized the back line for most of their senior season. Anasi started 16 out of 18 matches as a veteran presence in the midfield, while Nokels scored three goals as a reserve forward, including one game-winner against Drake and another in double overtime against Providence, one of only two matches against Big East competition that Creighton won last year.

Also gone from the 2014 team are midfielder Callie Henshaw and starting goalkeeper Danielle Rice. Henshaw missed most of her freshman season last year due to injury, then transferred to Central Missouri after the spring season. Rice transferred to nationally-ranked Texas A&M after completing her second season in goal for the Bluejays. In her first two seasons at Creighton, Rice finished seventh in school history in victories with 19 and sixth in school history in saves with 199. Rounding out the departures are midfielders Lauren Pipitone and Grace Cabri, and backup goalkeeper Michaela Moen. All three left the team to focus on academics.

Who Returns for 2015?

That is a lot of turnover from a roster of 24 players, but the Bluejays do bring back some key contributors. That includes Creighton’s top four goal scorers from 2014 in Lauren Sullivan, Kirstyn Corder, Alyssa Jara, and Ylenia Sachau. The quartet was responsible for 22 of the team’s 34 goals scored last season.

While it’s still a bit early to pencil in a starting eleven, Paule is pleased with the development of his team over the course of the preseason, and Creighton’s first-year head coach provided some insight into what people can expect to see out of his unit heading into the regular season…

Forwards

Returning to spearhead the Creighton attack are senior Alyssa Jara and junior Lauren Sullivan. Jara was a Third Team All-Big East selection as a sophomore in 2013, while Sullivan earned a spot on the Second Team as a sophomore a season ago. The duo has combined for 18 goals and nine assists in their career. Of the 10 matches Creighton put in the win column last season, Jara and Sullivan provided the game-winning goals in exactly half of them. With a combined .497 shot-on-goal percentage over the 185 shots they’ve taken in their careers these are two of the best the Bluejays have when it comes to putting pressure on an opposing goalkeeper.

Lauren Sullivan

Not only is Creighton fortunate enough to return two key contributors up front, but they also add another dynamic player to the mix in true freshman Kaira Houser from Washburn Rural High School in Wakarusa, Kansas. Houser scored 76 goals and tallied 48 assists in her high school career, and she often stood out as a playmaker in the Blue-White Scrimmage. She assisted Darby Hugunin on the first goal of the match and later scored a goal of her own. With these three in the mix, Creighton’s attacking third should be one area of the field where the Bluejays are better than they were in 2014.

Alyssa Jara

Ross Paule on Alyssa Jara and Lauren Sullivan:

“Jara is one of those special players that can do those special things with the ball at a quick pace. Her second touch is amazing. From controlling the ball to the next touch with acceleration is really something that we’re going to try to exploit. We’re going to try to get her in positions where she can go at players. What happens with that is that creates space for Sully.

“Sully is another player that can hold the ball really well, and obviously she’s dangerous in front of the goal. The more we can get them in front of the goal, the more touches we can get on the ball for them in the attacking third of the field, the more successful we’re going to be.”

Ross Paule on Kaira Houser:

“I think Kaira Houser is going to be a difference maker. I think she has great pace and she’s creative with the ball. We’re working on her finding more space with the ball, and playing with more speed of play when she does get the ball. But she’s grown from the time she got here until now.”

Midfielders

Kirstyn Corder

The attacking midfield area is expected to be led by redshirt sophomore Darby Hugunin, who is back after missing the entire 2014 season with a foot injury. She is joined by dynamic goal-scorer Kirstyn Corder.

For everything that Sullivan and Jara bring to the table up front, Corder is expected to provide right behind them. Her 13 goals over the last two seasons and her five game-winners in a Creighton uniform lead all active players on the roster.

Hugunin is a playmaker in her own right, but complications in her recovery from a broken foot prevented her from ever seeing a minute of action in 2014. As a true freshman, however, she played in all 18 matches, scoring one goal with one assist.

Ross Paule on Kirstyn Corder and Darby Hugunin:

“Darby is very creative. She can create and score goals. Kirstyn Corder is absolutely in that group as well. They are two very similar types that will play an attacking midfield role.”

The defensive midfield positions will probably see junior Emily Roll and senior Alissa Kohmetscher getting the bulk of the playing time. Both are versatile playmakers that have the experience to work with everyone in different areas of the field. Both can win the ball and control it long enough to provide Creighton with some opportunities to counter attack. They tied for the team lead in assists last season, even with Roll playing on the back line.

Ross Paule on Alissa Kohmetscher and Emily Roll:

“These two I think will be more of the engine of our team. We’re looking at them to control the middle of the field and communicate defensively from that defensive midfield role.”

Also contributing in the midfield will be senior Anastasia McCleary, sophomore Summer Khalil, and freshman Maureen Kerr, among others who will compete for a playing time. With their speed out wide, they are expected to be in the mix with the attackers up front.

Ross Paule on what he wants to see out of his midfielders, a position he played at a high level during his playing career:

“I want to see those players always involved with the play, always being an option, always looking to win the ball in dangerous parts of the field. They always have to be in the run of play and look to be an option to get the ball out and move the ball to another part of the field. On top of that they have to be a threat to go forward, so they need to have the whole package.”

Backs

Ylenia Sachau

This is an area where Creighton will be missing some vital pieces, as they have to replace team captains Angela Benson and Madelyn Buckner. Fortunately, the Bluejays do return a couple players with experience on the back line in senior full back Jill Richgels, sophomore center back McKynzie Dickman, and sophomore Jessica Mutters. Dickman started 15 matches as a freshman, most of which came at the center back position along with Buckner, while Mutters found a role as a starter towards the end of last season.

Richgels has the most experience of anyone on the back line, starting 41 matches in the back during her career. Joining Dickman in the middle of the line this season will most likely be Ylenia Sachau. The junior from Germany has played in 37 matches in her first two seasons, but most of that action came in the defensive midfield. True freshman Emma Braasch also appears to be in the mix for one of those spots in front of an inexperienced goalkeeper.

Ross Paule on his center back duo of Ylenia Sachau and McKynzie Dickman:

“Ylenia and McKynzie have shown that they are training to be a specialist at that position. They’re responding really well to playing that back line, and learning what we are asking of them back there — when to step, when to cover, and they’ve both shown that they can lead from back there. They’re not just defenders, they’re able to win the ball and help us keep the ball instead of just clearing the ball out.”

Goalkeepers

This is undoubtedly the biggest question mark entering the 2015 season. Danielle Rice played all but about 44 minutes in goal over the last two seasons. She started all 36 matches as a freshman and a sophomore, but she is now at Texas A&M. Accounting for the time that Rice wasn’t in net over the past two seasons was Michaela Moen, who is also no longer with the team.

Though she hasn’t seen any action in a game that officially counted, senior Kyla Salazar is one of the two keepers on the roster battling for the starting job. She had it all to herself in the spring, posting clean sheets against Drake, Nebraska-Omaha, and Iowa State in the process. She wears a big knee brace to help support her left knee after battling injuries throughout her career.

Competing with Salazar in the goal box is true freshman Erin Scott. She wears Rice’s old No. 1 jersey and was a late addition to Creighton’s 2015 recruiting class after helping Bishop Lynch win a state championship in Texas and earn a top five national ranking during the winter season. The race to be the starter is still up for grabs as both bring different strengths to the field.

Ross Paule on the competition between Salazar and Scott:

“Kyla is very vocal in the back, she’s a great leader back there. She’s respected by the players because of her hard work, and I think she can make those solid saves. Erin has come in as a freshman and has the confidence to also lead from the goal box. She’s been very clean on many of her saves. We’re working now on her distribution.

“The competition has been great so far. Honestly, I can’t tell you who is going to be the number one. They’re both really working hard under [Volunteer Assistant Coach Michael Eade]. When they come into the full training they both have done very well. We’re going to continue watching them over the next three or four days before we make a decision there. It will come down to the full package. Which one is more connected to their back line in communication and which one is able to distribute the ball the way we want to when we win the ball.”