Say It Ain't So!

ROCKY START  

[Picture taken from GoValiants.com]

   

After having had been the Manhattanville Women’s Soccer head coach for almost ten years, Matt Paton had resigned at the start of the 2014 season. Leaving the women’s soccer team without a coach or so it had appeared. How could someone leave just like that without warning? Especially when there had been relationships formed throughout the years. A couple of players on the team had expressed their feelings on the matter, and one that wishes to remain anonymous was actually pretty happy. She wasn’t a huge fan in the first place and feels that the new changes will be helpful for the development of the team.

Luckily, the women’s soccer team wouldn’t remain coach-less for long. They were able to promote their assistant coach Graham Kennett as the new head coach. Junior and defense player, Carolina Paleaz, was certainly pleased with the fact that he had taken on the role. “We are familiar and comfortable with him. The relationship is good,” she said. As many know, chemistry is crucial in the development of a team and it adds to its success.  Christie Freer, who is a junior and also plays defense shared her optimism on the upcoming season. “The chemistry is definitely better and it’s not just on the field.” With all of the changes that have been made so early in the season it has become vital for the women on the team to form a sisterhood to support and count on one another.

There are plenty of expectations going into the new season. Aside from hopefully being able to win a title, there is also an emphasis on being able to stay healthy as team. Of course there is always the competitive side to the team that wants to win as many games as they can. As for Paleaz and Freer, they also have individual goals of being able to perform the same way they had in the prior season. Being upperclassman they feel the need to carry the team and set an example.

Though the team has gotten off to a rocky start losing both of the first couple of games (against Saint Joseph and Western New England), there is still an opportunity to make improvements. They appear to have all of the pieces at their hands, they just need to put them to use.