Amy Steward July 17, 2009

Big recruiting class fuels hopes

Second-year coach Colin Kuchy has cleared his first major hurdle in building a championship women’s soccer program at Central College by bringing in the largest freshman class in the team’s history.

Depth was a significant challenge in 2008 as an undermanned squad produced a 3-15 campaign. But a furious year of recruiting produced 14 freshmen to bolster the Dutch roster. Consequently it’s a young Central squad, with just four juniors and seniors. Seven starters return from last season plus Central regains the services of senior defender Jessi Steward, a 2008 team co-captain who missed most of the year with injury.

Some players were forced to play out of position last fall to fill out the lineup. Determining where the returning players are best suited and evaluating the new talent will be the top priority in a busy preseason.

“We’ll be able to answer a lot more questions after that,” Kuchy said. “We’re full of options. I look at my dry-erase board right now and I’ve got six possible formations. We’ll have to see who can fit where.”

Regardless of where that leads, Kuchy is confident that when the Dutch take the field they’ll be better prepared than they were a year ago.

“The returning players worked extremely hard in the spring,” he said. “They’re really dedicated to what they want to accomplish. Skill-wise, they grew immensely because they worked not only in the weight room but on the field.”

Goalkeeper

Sophomore Abby Norman was unexpectedly thrust into goalkeeper duties in her rookie season. She yielded 4.61 goals per game but also came up with 8.6 saves and received the team’s Top Newcomer Award.

Kuchy said Norman will open the preseason as a goalkeeper but with three freshman goalkeepers on the roster, Norman could move elsewhere. She spent some time at forward in spring drills.

“The players have a lot of respect for her,” Kuchy said. “She got put in a difficult situation but her work rate was outstanding. “

Backs

Junior Brianne Knutson and sophomore Alex Kleis are returning defensive starters and the Dutch also welcome back Steward. Kuchy is also toying with sliding sophomore Lacy Merfeld back from midfield.

“She’s a good ball-handler and very aggressive,” Kuchy said, explaining the possible move. “She’s got a good eye for the game and the way she plays, she does a little better when she has everything in front of her. We worked her in a little bit at defender in the spring.”

Steward’s recovery from surgery last fall is going well.

“She came back from Christmas break and got into the weight room to gradually start working her way back,” Kuchy said. “She had a good attitude when she left for the summer and I believe she’ll be in good shape when she comes in to play in the fall.”

Kuchy is uncertain how much help the freshmen can immediately provide in the back.

“That’s one spot I don’t know for sure,” he said. “We’ll start throwing players out there and see who is capable of working at the college level.”

Kristi Klatt Midfield

The Dutch are anchored in the middle by the team’s 2008 MVP, senior Jenna Hindman, and the Best All-Around Player Award recipient, junior Kristi Klatt. Hindman, who scored a team-high five goals with four assists, was a second-team all-Iowa Conference pick in 2008 while Klatt received the distinction in 2007. Klatt was Central’s second leading point-producer last year with four goals and two assists.

Kuchy could push Knutson up from the backfield to fill one of the other two midfield spots, but he’ll first take a look at what he considers to be strong freshman prospects.

“Jenna Hindman worked really hard all spring,” Kuchy said. “Kristi (Klatt) is also a good leader. I think she learned a lot last year, not only about soccer but about herself and her leadership style. She did a great job this past spring of motivating other players.”

Forward

There will likely be new faces up front. Sophomore Caroline Bartko spent some time at forward last year, as did sophomore Chelsea Tyler. But neither cracked the scoring column.

“We have some ideas about our incoming players,” Kuchy said.

 The Iowa Conference

Defending champion Wartburg and second-place Loras appear to be top contenders in the Iowa Conference again. Kuchy is also anticipating a big leap forward by Coe, which was eighth a year ago.

Central was seventh at 2-6, a game out of the six-team conference tournament field.

Yet Kuchy isn’t thinking much about the opposition and doesn’t want his players to do so, either. Exciting days are ahead for Dutch women’s soccer, he promises.

“We need to continue to work toward our goals and not get caught up in what the rest of the league is doing,” he said. “We need to keep our big picture that we’re looking at in focus. I’m very confident that if we take care of doing what we’re capable of doing, then we’re going to do well in the league.”

That doesn’t mean winning a league title this fall, although that’s on the program’s long-term to-do list.

“Our goal for this year is to get in the conference tournament and to show well once we get there,” Kuchy said.