The Shippensburg University women’s soccer team looks to improve upon their disappointing 2018 season, where they finished 7-10-1. They will do so without seven departed seniors: Chloe Flemion, Kiersten Priest, Keegan White, Beth McGee, Mariah Varner, Lexi Albert and Lauren Krenzke.
SU does return 17 players, however, including last season’s leading scorer: senior Izzy Weigel. Weigel racked up 15 goals in her first two Raider seasons after spending her freshman season at Bridgewater College.
Junior goalkeeper Delaney Shifflett also returns after finishing ranked second in saves last season with 126, and ranking fourth in save percentage at .863.
Weigel and Shifflett will be joined on the field by 11 incoming freshmen including Alyse Caffrey from Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, Sydney Miller from Bensalem High School, and Sakiah Veur who is a transfer from West Chester University. These freshmen will look to have an immediate impact on the team.
As a team, SU routinely found itself in the middle of the pack statistically during the 2018 season. They were 12th in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) in shots, taking 223 of them with an average of 12.39 shots a game. They ranked ninth in goals, making 24 of them while averaging 1.3 a game.
Shippensburg also allowed 26 goals last season, an average of 1.4 per game, which ranked 11th in the PSAC. They were also a rough team with an average of 9.3 fouls each game, which ranked near the bottom of the conference at 15th.
This season, the PSAC has been split into an eastern and western division, with Shippensburg landing in the eastern division. They will play a double round robin regular season slate against fellow eastern division members Bloomsburg, East Stroudsburg, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shepherd, and West Chester. The top four teams from each division will play in the new, modified postseason tournament.
Shippensburg was voted seventh in the 2019 PSAC Eastern Division preseason coaches’ poll.
The Raiders kick off their season September 5 at home against the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown.
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