Games not to far away now. It is basically a completely new team as no field starters with significant minutes return from last season:
Goalies: Return starter Fuller who did well as a freshman last year and was just called up to a US national team camp. Veronda had won the starting spot over Fuller to start the season last year and then broke her foot after the first game, so she should be solid too. Assuming junior transfer is the 3rd option, but all 3 players rotated in during the spring.
Defenders: Difficult to replace the entire backline from last year (3 transferred and 1 graduated). Last year's defense gave up 3 goals at home to Denver and 6 goals on the road to UConn last season, but the backline included 4 defenders that were generally considered good SEC-level defenders. Based on spring season, backline could include plenty of minutes for 3 freshmen and 2 transfers. Patterson (Ole Miss) and Yakel (Portland) both played a ton of minutes the last couple of years at their prior schools, so they bring a lot of experience and seemed solid in the spring. The freshmen (Crooks, Lavender and Landherr) all come from top ECNL teams and I thought all looked college ready in the spring, but will likely take some hits as they get used to this level of play. Will be interesting to see if James and/or Torn are able to contribute this year coming off injuries last season. James played some holding mid before she got hurt last year and could also get minutes there again (Yakel also played a lot of holding mid at Portland and could see some time there too). James had a monster club/hs career, but has been injured for most of her first two years at A&M. Not sure what summer transfer Scranton brings to the table, but her CBU team pushed UCLA to the limit in NCAA's last year and she played that full game (including OT), so she at least brings some good experience. Speaking of CBU, the new assistant coach leads the defense and appears to be well liked by the players. Wilson was conference all-freshmen team last year at Oregon State, but didn't seem like she played a lot in the spring for whatever reason.
Mids: Sad to lose Bacerra and Ivey from last year's squad. Was hoping Yolinsky and Cornog would come back from last year's injuries to fill some of that production, but they both left to join Bacerra at TCU. Buchanan (UNLV) just got the call up to US national team camp and looked good in spring. It looks like Campbell is going to get a starting spot in the fall based on spring and brings 500+ minutes of experience from last year. Pirro should be able to provide some solid minutes every game.
Forwards (some listed as forwards will also get time at mid): Pante was my favorite player last year and will be missed (graduated). Diaz (Tulsa) is fast and relentless, and can contribute at this level (scored in TCU spring game). Jernigan returns having played 800 minutes last year and had a great goal in the spring on a collect, turn and finish. Clark can certainly create some chances, especially if she gets the ball in the box. Hutchins (NC State) created some good chances in the spring after not getting much time at NC State last year. I think Hoang, coming off an injury last year, could get some good minutes this year. Freshmen Cate and Storer should both get some opportunities to contribute based on spring. Storer was a pretty highly rated recruit, but I really don't think those rating platforms are very good outside of maybe the top 20 or so in each class. Interested to see how the experience of two other new faces (Noble from Fullerton, Ryan from Kansas) translates into SEC pay. Noble was effective in the Big West, but the SEC is a different level. Ryan played in a lot of games at Kansas, but didn't have many games where she got more than 15-20 minutes. At the end of the day, we need some of these girls to be goal scorers. We were shut out 8 times in 19 games last season with a team that had Pante and McDonald, and that won't get it done this year as our defense likely won't be as strong as last year.
I am sure expectations are low for most given all the departures and new faces. I wouldn't be surprised if they struggle as they try to figure out how to play together. I think the last 4 spring games were positive steps (tied TCU, beat Houston, Tech and Rice). As someone else noted, the schedule has been ranked the 9[sup]th[/sup] hardest in the country, so plenty of tests and opportunities to grow this year, but not sure anyone should expect them to finish in the top third of the SEC or make a deep NCAA run this year. I'd say a winning record and NCAA tournament birth would be considered a success this year, with some learnings that they can build on for 2026. I also really like next year's group of recruits (2026) and expect 3+ of them to compete for starting spots immediately.
Goalies: Return starter Fuller who did well as a freshman last year and was just called up to a US national team camp. Veronda had won the starting spot over Fuller to start the season last year and then broke her foot after the first game, so she should be solid too. Assuming junior transfer is the 3rd option, but all 3 players rotated in during the spring.
Defenders: Difficult to replace the entire backline from last year (3 transferred and 1 graduated). Last year's defense gave up 3 goals at home to Denver and 6 goals on the road to UConn last season, but the backline included 4 defenders that were generally considered good SEC-level defenders. Based on spring season, backline could include plenty of minutes for 3 freshmen and 2 transfers. Patterson (Ole Miss) and Yakel (Portland) both played a ton of minutes the last couple of years at their prior schools, so they bring a lot of experience and seemed solid in the spring. The freshmen (Crooks, Lavender and Landherr) all come from top ECNL teams and I thought all looked college ready in the spring, but will likely take some hits as they get used to this level of play. Will be interesting to see if James and/or Torn are able to contribute this year coming off injuries last season. James played some holding mid before she got hurt last year and could also get minutes there again (Yakel also played a lot of holding mid at Portland and could see some time there too). James had a monster club/hs career, but has been injured for most of her first two years at A&M. Not sure what summer transfer Scranton brings to the table, but her CBU team pushed UCLA to the limit in NCAA's last year and she played that full game (including OT), so she at least brings some good experience. Speaking of CBU, the new assistant coach leads the defense and appears to be well liked by the players. Wilson was conference all-freshmen team last year at Oregon State, but didn't seem like she played a lot in the spring for whatever reason.
Mids: Sad to lose Bacerra and Ivey from last year's squad. Was hoping Yolinsky and Cornog would come back from last year's injuries to fill some of that production, but they both left to join Bacerra at TCU. Buchanan (UNLV) just got the call up to US national team camp and looked good in spring. It looks like Campbell is going to get a starting spot in the fall based on spring and brings 500+ minutes of experience from last year. Pirro should be able to provide some solid minutes every game.
Forwards (some listed as forwards will also get time at mid): Pante was my favorite player last year and will be missed (graduated). Diaz (Tulsa) is fast and relentless, and can contribute at this level (scored in TCU spring game). Jernigan returns having played 800 minutes last year and had a great goal in the spring on a collect, turn and finish. Clark can certainly create some chances, especially if she gets the ball in the box. Hutchins (NC State) created some good chances in the spring after not getting much time at NC State last year. I think Hoang, coming off an injury last year, could get some good minutes this year. Freshmen Cate and Storer should both get some opportunities to contribute based on spring. Storer was a pretty highly rated recruit, but I really don't think those rating platforms are very good outside of maybe the top 20 or so in each class. Interested to see how the experience of two other new faces (Noble from Fullerton, Ryan from Kansas) translates into SEC pay. Noble was effective in the Big West, but the SEC is a different level. Ryan played in a lot of games at Kansas, but didn't have many games where she got more than 15-20 minutes. At the end of the day, we need some of these girls to be goal scorers. We were shut out 8 times in 19 games last season with a team that had Pante and McDonald, and that won't get it done this year as our defense likely won't be as strong as last year.
I am sure expectations are low for most given all the departures and new faces. I wouldn't be surprised if they struggle as they try to figure out how to play together. I think the last 4 spring games were positive steps (tied TCU, beat Houston, Tech and Rice). As someone else noted, the schedule has been ranked the 9[sup]th[/sup] hardest in the country, so plenty of tests and opportunities to grow this year, but not sure anyone should expect them to finish in the top third of the SEC or make a deep NCAA run this year. I'd say a winning record and NCAA tournament birth would be considered a success this year, with some learnings that they can build on for 2026. I also really like next year's group of recruits (2026) and expect 3+ of them to compete for starting spots immediately.
