BROOKLYN, N.Y. --- The 2017 campaign for the LIU Brooklyn women's soccer team is scheduled to begin this Friday, August 18 with a road matchup at New Hampshire. The first kick of the season is scheduled for 7 p.m in Durham.
At the helm of the Blackbirds program this season is first-year head coach Eleri Earnshaw. A LIU women's soccer alumna, Earnshaw returned to Brooklyn in February after stints at Yale and Central Connecticut State. Her appointment to the top job at her alma mater comes after graduating from LIU during the 2007-08 year and serving as a graduate assistant for the school from 2008-10.
The efforts of Earnshaw and her squad will be focused on rebounding from a tough 2016 season and reaching the Northeast Conference (NEC) tournament for the first time since reaching the title game in 2013.
Two of the top returning players leading the charge for LIU are redshirt senior Jenn Peters and junior Marian Awad - two of the top three goal scorers for the Blackbirds last season. Peters, the 2013 NEC Rookie of the Year,
was one of three 2016 Golden Boot Award winners as the league's top goal scorer (six) a season after redshirting. The Slate Hill, N.Y. product also finished tied for fifth in the NEC with 13 points. Peters started in 16 matches this season and registered a team-high 27 shots on goal. She enters her final campaign with 16 career goals, tied for sixth on the school's all-time list.
Awad ended 2016 third on the team in goals (3) and points (6; tied) and spent part of this past summer playing with the Women's National Team of her native Israel. The junior and the Israeli team competed during the preliminary rounds of UEFA qualifying for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. Awad even registered a goal during her tenure, leading Israel to a 2-0 shutout of Lithuania. As a Blackbird, Award has recorded eight goals, two assists and 18 total points in 32 career matches. She started all 19 contests as a freshman in 2015, scoring five goals and assisting on two others en route to earning Northeast Conference All-Rookie honors.
Other impact players poised to contribute include senior captain Brittany Galske, who played the most minutes (1,437) of any returning player last season while starting all 17 contests and junior incumbent goalkeeper Aline Allman (16 games played, 92 saves, 2.62 goals against average).
Peters, Awad, Galske and Allman, along with the rest of the returners, will help incorporate LIU's ten-member class into the mix.
The opener against New Hampshire will be the first meeting between the two schools. UNH was picked to finish third in the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Wildcats went 7-9-3 in 2016 and are led by senior Brooke Murphy, the two-time reigning America East Striker of the Year.