2008 UT Tyler Women’s Soccer Preview
August 13, 2008

In 2007, The University of Texas at Tyler women’s soccer team came within one game of winning the American Southwest Conference championship and advancing to their first-ever NCAA tournament. All of this was accomplished in the Patriots’ first year of post-season eligibility and with a team comprised mainly of freshmen and sophomores.

Not only was last year’s squad composed of mostly underclassmen, due to UT Tyler spending four years as provisional member of the NCAA, no members of the 2007 team had any post-season experience.

“Going in to the ASC Championship match last year with a young team who had no post-season experience was tough, because Hardin-Simmons is so experienced in those kinds of high-pressure matches,” said head coach Stefani Webb. The Patriots fell to HSU in the championship match of last year’s tournament.

However, Webb, who enters her fourth year at the helm of the UT Tyler program, is convinced that this year will be different.

“I am excited because we will return a large number of ladies from last year’s roster that are a little more seasoned this time around,” she commented.

Indeed, Webb will return a large portion of her roster this year. Of the 28 members of the 2007 roster, 20 of those players will return for the 2008 campaign. And once again, Webb will only lose a small number of seniors this season, three to be exact, which means the newcomers will provide her with a strong leadership base for 2009 and beyond.

Of the seven All-ASC players from last year’s team, the Patriots only lost two of them during the off-season. Senior Kelly Buchanan, junior Amanda Thomas and sophomores Chelsea Fiscus, Sam Fraser and Kendall Kramer will once take the pitch for the Patriots this year.

With the large amount of returnees from 2007, this year’s recruiting class is smaller than usual, Webb explains.

“Because we are returning so many players, our recruiting class is not as large as normal this year. However, we have six new players that will be great additions to our team.”

Webb will get her first look at the new Patriots, as well as the rest of the team, on Aug. 30 and Sept. 1, when UT Tyler travels to Shreveport, La. where the Patriots will take on NAIA schools Oklahoma Christian and Oklahoma City. UT Tyler fans will get their first look at the 2008 side on Sept. 5 when the Patriots host perennial national power Trinity (Tex.). Two days later on Sept. 7, UT Tyler hosts another power from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, Southwestern (Tex.). Trinity and Southwestern finished last season in first and second place, respectively, in the SCAC, with Trinity advancing to the NCAA Championships.

After the first two weekends, the Patriots will move into the ASC portion of their schedule. Webb thinks that this season, the ASC will be more competitive than ever.

“The ASC will be very tough this year. Looking at some rosters, knowing what players are going where, I think the ASC competition will be much stronger this year.”

After coming so close in 2007, the Patriots will be even more determined to take home this championship in 2008. And with the right mix of veterans and fresh faces, UT Tyler looks poised to do just that.

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