BROOKLYN, N.Y. --- The 2018 LIU Brooklyn women's soccer season is set to start at home this Friday, August 17 when the Blackbirds host Fairfield at 11:00 a.m. on LIU Field.
Entering her second year at the helm, LIU alumna Eleri Earnshaw and her staff believe the team is trending in the right direction.
"It's been rewarding this offseason and during our training to see everyone's hard work coming to fruition," said the native of Wales. "We've been trying to transition the previous culture into a new one that will thrive moving forward, and the coaches really like what we have seen so far."
The Blackbirds, who went 3-12-2 overall, and 1-6-1 in the Northeast Conference last year, return 18 letter winners, including nine starters and a quartet of senior captains.
Senior goalkeeper Aline Allmann was a two-time NEC Defensive Player of the Week in 2017. Allmann carried an 1.27 goals against average (fourth in the NEC) with four shutouts and an .846 save percentage in her second season as the team's primary keeper. Deanna Ellison and Maddie Shockley, who led the Blackbirds in minutes played last season (with each playing over 1500), will provide pivotal leadership in the middle of the field. And Marian Awad, who has nine career goals to her credit, will move up to the frontline, after playing midfield last season.
"We've moved players around quite a bit from last season to where they can be more influential to our success," said Earnshaw. "We believe we have enough depth to be competitive this season right from the start."
LIU will also look to a deep freshman class, with nine new players on the pitch.
"While we have a talented sophomore class that is continually improving, I am very excited for the strong freshman class this season," said Earnshaw. "We are likely to start a number of freshmen in the starting lineup when we kick off on Friday."
PREVIEWING FAIRFIELD
Fairfield will begin their first season under the guidance of David Barrett, a DIvision III legend at Illinois Wesleyan. The Stags (6-9-2 in 2017) finished seventh in the MAAC last season with a 4-5-1 league mark. The team's top player is sophomore Alex Madden, the reigning MAAC Rookie of the Year, who was Fairfield's lone representative on the conference's preseason squad. The striker led the Stags with seven goals and 14 points during her rookie season, which also featured a team-high three game-winning tallies.