Women's Soccer | 8/27/2009 3:05:25 PM

[Live stats]

Introduction
Offense seems to be the one word defining the theme of the fall for the Western Oregon University soccer team. The Wolves know that the success of the 2009 season will rest greatly on the team's ability to put goals on the board.

"We must score more goals to be competitive at this level and that comes from the team mentality," said Fretz. "We must be disciplined and everyone must keep an attacking mentality."

With the goal of scoring clearly outlined for this team on the table coach Fretz talked about the different positions, some of the key players and what his team will need to do to help WOU succeed during the 2009 campaign.

Forwards
Rachelle Kliewer, (5-8, Jr., Tualatin, Ore), "She will create opportunities for herself and for her teammates. She knows how to create space, draw the defender and dump the ball into that space for someone else to finish. We expect her to get a handful of shots each game but also to set others up."

Sam Slezak (5-6, Jr., Salem, Ore.), "She has one of the best long range shots on our team and we need more of that. She has a rare desire to score which is good for us. Sam wants to go to goal, has some moves and can create opportunities out of nothing. We expect the finishing quality and long range shots from Sam.

Brenna Lander (5-10, Jr., Poulsbo, Wash.), "Brenna is a combo of the other two. She has the ability to lay off ball to the midfielders and finding feet is a big part of her role."

Katrina Kem (5-1, So., Wahiawa, Hawaii), "She is probably our quickest and fastest player but she also has offensive instincts which we are going to throw in up front. Her role, more than any of the others, is to get in behind the defense for through ball and other scoring opportunities."

Midfielders
Jessica Hicks (5-2, Sr., Corvallis, Ore.), "She provides a lot of energy behind the front line and provides a good target for the backs. She is also a good distributer and has a knack for the through ball. Her role will be will be to find the holes in the defense for the pass."

Cori Young (5-10, Jr., Gresham, Ore.), "With her height, her role is to win balls in the middle. She will also distribute balls from side to side; help us change fields and our point of attack. Final one will be feeding balls to our forwards in the slots. But she also has a good long range shot and we give her the green light on that every time.

Marina Austin (5-6, Fr., Olympia, Wash.), "She has pretty good speed and a really good left foot, and we will be counting on quality crosses from her."

Kelsey Fuik (5-9, Fr., Olympia, Wash.), "Provides the team with a quality cross and has a good shot from the outside."

Defenders
Naomi Shimabuku (5-3, Jr., Aiea, Hawaii), "Naomi is one of the keys to our defense. She is ball of energy and is very good in the air. She is also a very good 1 v 1 marker, she wins loose balls and is extremely quick."

Monique Thees (5-8, So., Camano Island, Wash.), "Mo will be directing traffic, reading the play and telling the backs what to do is a big part of her job. She has good speed and makes good decisions with the ball. However, on defense the less she has to handle the ball the better because that the other players are doing their job."

Jill Peterson (5-5, Jr., Gresham, Ore.)/Kelsey Harms (5-6, Sr., Stanwood), "Their jobs will be to find the forwards on the other team and mark them out of the game by using their quickness and aggressiveness. They also must be patience and deliver to the 1 v 1 markers."

Goalies
Kelsie Blachly (5-7, Jr., Gresham, Ore.)/Brittney Rigtrup (5-7, Jr., Renton, Wash.), "We are similar to last year with the two returners splitting time in the net.

On the defense
"We have to defend. We must move our feet, keep the player outside of us and let the unit of defenders win the ball instead of doing it individually. With all that said, I see us as being a very solid defensive team."

On the offense
"We are currently working on our offensive patterns and having chemistry among the players. We have not had chance to practice all together yet with the focus on attacking. We are still working on getting them all on the same page."

On the team's mix of youth and experience
"The key to bringing in new players, either freshmen or transfers is getting them on the same page as the returners in understanding the system."

"With our freshmen we have in starting roles it is just a question of how quickly transition to Division II competition. They are capable of filling roles for us, but we want a bit bigger roles for them so the quicker they transition the better."

Season-opener against Humboldt State
The Western Oregon University soccer team will begin the season at Arcata, Calif., as it faces Humboldt State Friday Aug. 28 at 1:00 p.m. This will be the second consecutive year the Wolves have opened the season against the Lumberjacks.

HSU currently holds the 8-7-1 series advantage over WOU but the Wolves won the previous meeting between the two schools in 2008 when Jordann Gilmer nailed a long range shot in the second overtime to win the match 2-1. That was the second straight win for WOU over HSU.

Coach Fretz on the game against Humboldt State
"If we defend in through this game and keep some good possession I think we have enough talent in the attack that we should get some scoring opportunities."

Live stats
The WOU-HSU game will be made available via live stats by Humboldt State. The live stat feed can be accessed through the WOU Wolves web site or at http://livestats.internetconsult.com/humboldt/wsoc while the event is in progress.