COLUMBUS, Ohio – When Ohio Dominican women's soccer kicks off against Lake Erie College on Sunday afternoon, it will be 484 days since their last competitive match which took place on November 16th, 2019 inside Roger Glass Stadium in Dayton, Ohio.
Much has changed since then, a global pandemic, shutdowns, a new head coach, new faces on the roster, but one thing remains constant, the Panthers drive to be great on and off the field.
The Panther will have a new leader for the first time in five seasons as head coach Reilee DuPratt begins her journey at the helm of the Black and Gold. DuPratt is no stranger to success as she led her former team Cleveland State University to its best record in program history and earned the Vikings a berth into the Horizon League Conference Final, a first in the team's history.
She is hoping for similar success with the Panthers, where she inherits a talented club that earned a record of 11-7-2 overall and 8-4-1 in conference play. ODU returns 20 players from its last competitive season in 2019, including players such as Samantha Buck (Reynoldsburg, Ohio), Emily Wittekind (Cincinnati, Ohio), Hannah Knobloch (Hilliard, Ohio), and Katlyn Jamiel (Wilmington, Ohio).
Buck is back for her final campaign on Sunbury Road. In 2019, the forward led the Black and Gold with 11 goals and six assists. Wittekind also was a key contributor on the offensive side of the ball as she tallied three goals and collected numerous assists during the Panthers run to the G-MAC postseason tournament.
Jamiel looks to add a layer of security in the midfield and will attempt to shield the backline as Knobloch and company look to improve upon the Black and Gold goals-against-average of 0.77 from just a season ago.
Three goalkeepers will protect the penalty area as senior Alivia Tavernier (Bellbrook, Ohio) is joined by two freshman backstops Kaitlin Grady (Twinsburg, Ohio) and Jadelyn McNerney (Springboro, Ohio) who will be between the sticks for ODU.
SCOUTING THE STORM
Lake Erie looks to rebound following a season in which it went 7-8-2 overall and 4-8-1 in conference play. The Storm finished in ninth place in the conference and scored just 20 goalsk on the season. Junior Haley Scherer returns and was a leading scorer for LEC, tallying six goals in 2019.
Kickoff from Painesville is scheduled for 1 PM.
Contact: Ralph Schudel
schudelr@ohiodominican.edu
