EUGENE, Ore. – When the Northwest Christian University women’s soccer team officially opened up fall training camp on Monday, third year head coach Vern Stewart didn’t view it as the start of something new. Rather than focus on the fresh faces in new places aspect, Stewart praised the veterans for continuing the Beacons challenging off-season workout program.
“Our veterans did a tremendous job adopting and work through our spring and summer voluntary workouts. Returning players like Megan Taylor, Desiree Berry and Sam Stewart really worked hard in their time away from the field. Their commitment to improving individually and together as a team will make us a stronger unit.”
Stewart says that he and assistant coach Jonathan Rea are using the first seven days of camp to evaluate new talent and the off-season improvement of the more experienced veterans. After the initial evaluations comes a short three-day mini-camp, prior to the Beacons transitioning into a simulated game week. Preparation for the season concludes in an upcoming pre-season scrimmage at Mike Kelly Field with Clackamas Community College on August 22nd, set for a scheduled 7:00 pm start.
“The key for us in the beginning is to see what kind of talent we have out on the field,” said Stewart. “I am anxious to see a player like Sarah Stalling step out on the field again, after only playing ten minutes of last season’s schedule. Sarah has worked hard to return from her injury, she was a key inspirational figure on our sideline, now her playing ability will help assist the youth of our program.”
In the short history of NCU women’s soccer, Stewart notes how diverse the roster has become and to the credit of his infant program the Northwest Christian name has become a program with name recognition and the wide range of credit will continue to grow with the current roster. As the brand of Beacons soccer grows, with growth comes the challenge to lead on the field and within the greater NCU community.
“We have players from California, Nevada, Hawaii and that is a great thing, but I also would like to see more spots on our roster be filled by local Oregon talent as well. As this program begins to win soccer games, then we’ll gain the benefit of attracting the interest of the area’s elite soccer athletes.”
Based upon the preseason expectations of the Cascade Collegiate Conference coaches poll, released on Monday, the rest of the CCC isn’t ready to recognize the Beacons just yet, as NCU is projected to finish last in the conference. Coach Stewart says his team is prepared to invest the time and energy to work their way out of the.
“The challenge for us is not only to reap the rewards of improving through our non-conference portion of our schedule, but to keep some of our best soccer for the conference season. We are going to play hard early, but our talent that is assembled on this roster will not allow us to remain a secret for too much longer.”
The non-conference schedule has the Beacons playing on the road for the opening five contests of the young season, before hosting a three game home stand in the middle of September with games against Simpson University, Mills College and George Fox in preparation of conference play.
The Beacons travel to Corban College on September 18th, for an evening CCC road test with a scheduled start of 7:30pm. The following Wednesday marks the conference home opener against Southern Oregon.
Stewart and the Beacons have grown into their own in just three seasons, but the talent of the CCC isn’t prepared to hand over any of the conference hardware. At the same time it should serve as motivation to the core nucleus of returning athletes, not only to prepare for the upcoming 2008 season but focus on the early games in preparation for taking the CCC by surprise.