Berkshire Eagle: "Pressure Is On For Trailblazer Women's Soccer"
MCLA women's soccer coach Deb Raber said she knows that replacing career scoring leader Jess Tietgens won't be easy. But that isn't stopping the 12th-year coach from feeling positive about the 2011 Trailblazers, who are picked to finish third in MASCAC
Pressure is on for Trailblazer women's soccee
September 1, 2011
But that isn't stopping the 12th-year coach from feeling positive about the 2011 Trailblazers, who are picked to finish third in MASCAC.
"Jess was continuously the hardest-working person in practice. Those are things people don't see. You don't see that coming to our games," said Raber. "You have to come to our training to realize what she brought to this program.
"She's rubbed off on these guys a lot."
The Trailblazers open their season Friday at 1 p.m. against UMass-Boston.
Tietgens and the rest of the Class of 2011 helped the Trailblazers go 11-3-6, win the MASCAC regular-season title and reach the ECAC Division III Tournament. The Trailblazers defeated Saint Joseph (Conn.) but lost in overtime to Keene State.
Tietgens was the MASCAC player of the year and one of three All-Conference players -- forward Danielle Parenteau and midfielder Sam Miller were the other two -- who graduated. The Trailblazers scored 40 goals last year and lost 27 of them to graduation.
MCLA's top returning scorer is junior midfielder Brianna Bresett of Adams (Hoosac Valley), and she tied for second on the team with 6 goals. Senior back Lauren Ford is the No. 2 returning scorer on the team (2 goals, 2 assists).
Bresett was a central midfielder at Hoosac and she will control the Trailblazer offense from the central midfield this fall. She was an outside midfielder last year.
"I don't think pressure is the right word. I think that it's definitely different than last year. I don't just mean Jess ... we had other seniors that helped her get those goals," said Bresett. "Without the whole entire team, Jess wouldn't have had those goals.
"We lost seven starters. We have to rebuild and see where we can go from there."
It always helps to have a strong back line, and that begins with All-MASCAC first-team defender Kaitlyn Dano and goalie Jen Wehner.
Wehner played in 18 of her team's 20 games, had a 0.59 goals-against average, a 10-2-5 record and seven shutouts. Raber said Wehner will be pushed by sophomore Danielle Heinsohn. That strength is a security blanket for the Trailblazers.
"Jen did her part over the summer. She worked hard," sad Raber. "The good thing is we brought in a second goalkeeper and Danielle will push her very hard. Jen, I actually think, has made improvement in the preseason because she has Danielle pushing her."