WSOC Opens Preseason CampWSOC Opens Preseason Camp

WSOC Opens Preseason Camp

Aug. 2, 2018

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - With team meetings and fitness testing out of the way, the Penn State women's soccer team held its first official practice of the 2018 season on Wednesday night at the Jeffrey Field practice fields.

The 23-member roster, which returns 16 Nittany Lions from last year's quarterfinal run in the NCAA Tournament, looks to use the preseason camp to work on skills, build team chemistry, and prepare for the upcoming season. In addition to team practices, the Nittany Lions will use two exhibitions (Boston College - August 5 & Georgetown - August 11) to see how they matchup against opponents.

Head coach Erica Dambach enters her 12th season at the helm of the Penn State women's soccer program in 2018 and like any other head coach entering a season, she's looking forward to seeing the team develop over the course of the preseason camp. Even though the Nittany Lions graduated an experienced senior class from last season, she is already excited about the leadership shown from the upperclassmen.

"As a coach, it is the best time of the year," Dambach said. "You never know the personality that your team is going to take on after you lose a senior class that we had graduated this past season. I look at this group of seniors, I look at this group of leaders, and there is so much personality, there is so much ownership. You look at our leadership council and each one of them, their experiences, their accountability, they came in fit, they came in energized. I believe that if our team follows them, they will lead the way."

Redshirt junior defender Ellie Jean (Coventry, Conn.) knows that preseason camp is a great opportunity for the Nittany Lions to build team chemistry in practice, meals, and outings, which will help forge relationships for the 2018 season.

"It is just so important, the chemistry of the team and right into the first games of the season. We are playing at 100 percent, we know everyone's tendencies, and we know how everyone plays. It is so important to build that chemistry and we work really hard on that on and off the field."

Though she has only taken part in one official practice as a Nittany Lion, freshman midfielder Ally Schlegel (Parker, Colo.) already feels at home in Happy Valley. Schlegel, who committed to Penn State during the summer of 2015, is excited to finally be practicing with her Nittany Lion family.

"I think the first practice was wild," Schlegel said. "I felt like at home, but at the same time, I was like, 'wait I have never been here before,' but it didn't feel like I have never been here before. It kind of felt like it was all meshing together, like all these things have been building up, and I was like, 'let's do this, here we go.' "