The women's soccer team kicked off its 2012 season in dominating fashion with two wins in three days following a preseason of solid training sessions. The Bears (2-0, 0-0 Ivy) are off to a perfect start after traveling to St. John's University (2-3-0) Friday and defeating the Red Storm 3-0, and then returning home to secure a 1-0 win over the University of New Hampshire (1-3-0) in Sunday's home opener.
"It was an exciting opening weekend ... a 2-0 record doesn't get any better," said Head Coach Phil Pincince. "Our 2012 team is a group of elite student-athletes. I look forward to the upcoming games and the start of Ivy League play."
This season, the women's soccer team has its sights set on an Ivy League title after finishing fourth last season with a 3-3-1 conference record and a 10-5-2 overall mark.
With the return of many strong and experienced players, including their top three scorers from last season, the Bears are looking poised to move up in the conference standings. Bruno entered the top half of the rankings after two consecutive seventh-place finishes.
"Preseason was very strong," Pincince said. "It was a chance to put players on the same page as we take on a new look for 2012."
"It's a new year altogether," said defender Ali Mullin '14. "We have a new assistant coach, and we're really off to a fresh start."
New assistant coach Erica Marshall will join Pincince and Luis Faria, who begins his ninth season with the Bears, on the sidelines. Erica Marshall comes from Towson University, where she was the fourth leading scorer in school history and then served as a student assistant for three seasons.
The new coach watched her squad triumph over the weekend.
Two first-half goals just over two minutes apart propelled Brown to a 3-0 victory over St. John's at Belson Stadium Friday.
"We expect to have a lot more offensive opportunities this year, so it was great to score three goals in our opening game against a tough opponent," said captain Eliza Marshall '13.
"We played well on defense and offense after we won the ball in more creative ways than last year," Mullin said.
The Bears earned their second shutout of the weekend against New Hampshire Sunday afternoon. After a scoreless first period, the Bears picked up their play in the second half. Mika Siegelman '14 scored the lone goal in the 53rd minute with assists from Kirsten Belinsky '15 and Kiersten Berg '14.
"It was our second game in three days, so that was a challenge we didn't have to face on Friday, and we weren't quite as fresh," Marshall said. "UNH came out really hard and put a lot of pressure on us in the first half, which made the game choppy, and it was difficult for us to get our rhythm."
"We have a fair amount of work to do," Mullin added. "But we are a new team and have a lot to be excited about for the upcoming season."
With two shutout victories under their belts to start the season, the Bears are looking forward to building up to crucial conference games.
"It's definitely exciting to come out of opening weekend undefeated," Marshall said. "We still have a lot to learn before we face our Ivy opponents and will continue to use these games as opportunities to do that."
