Aug. 30, 2007

Staten Island, NY - Speed kills.

A common theme in the world of sports today, and something this 2007 Wagner Women's Soccer team has now aplenty. Combine speed however, with youth, and it leaves a product dizzy with excitement.

Second-year Wagner Head Coach Mike Minielli can attest to this in his over twenty years in collegiate soccer, yet, he plans to be the one making it simpler. If there's one thing he will be sure to exude while leading this impressive crop of talented young players it would be patience.

"I've done this three times before with extremely young teams and fortunately that experience has helped me out with this group," said Minielli. "Patience is so going to be vital. You have to stay very even and focused on what the long-term goal is for the program."

That long-term goal begins with the 11 - yes, that's right, 11 new freshmen and a unique new element and style of play.

They're fast.

"We have really good team speed and we need to take advantage of that both on offense and on defense," added Minielli. "So from a defensive standpoint we want to try and play a fairly high-pressure style because we're going to be quick to the ball. We want to try and get in and pressure people and make things uncomfortable for their attack.

"Also, it'll cause turnovers which will make us be able to score goals easier," he added. "If we can get an easy goal that boosts confidence and helps our players come along a little bit faster as an offensive unit."

In addition to the 11 newcomers are six sophomores, combined with only six upperclassmen with the lone senior being captain Danielle Telleria (Orlando, FL/Winter Springs).

Telleria, along with junior captains Stephanie Burnett (Cocoa Beach, FL/Satellite), and Diane Gantenhammer (South Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale), and back Josefine Allain (Centerville, MA/Barnstable) are important to just how far the Seahawks go this season, according to Minielli.

Burnett and Allain anchor the defense, which will play a key role in staying in games in the early part of the year, while Gantenhammer, along with sophomore midfielder Danielle Sheehan (Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale) will be asked to help hold down the attack until the offense begins to gel later in the season.

According to experts, Sheehan and Gantenhammer possess the potential to be the premiere midfield tandem in the Northeast Conference this year.

While the start of the season excites this youngish group ready to get the ball rolling, there are no easy wins on the schedule for 2007.

This, however, was by design.

"Our non-conference schedule this year is better than last year's," said Minielli. "We don't have one real cupcake game on this schedule. That can be good from the standpoint that it's really going to prepare our kids when we get into conference play. That truly was our purpose when we scheduled it that way."

Probably the toughest non-conference match-up for the Seahawks comes on September 20 when they square off against the Naval Academy on the road down in Annapolis, Maryland.

Navy, who comes into this year off 20 wins in 2006 and is ranked seventh in a very competitive Mid-Atlantic region, will be a true test for the Seahawks but will hopefully gear them up for when NEC play begins on October 5 at Mount St. Mary's.

"That's the big issue," said Minielli. "Getting (this young group) ready to compete on the D-I level and in conference, and hopefully we'll win a few games along the way.

"And we can win a game and I can be unhappy about how we competed," he added. "I think that's the big focus right now, learning how to compete and having the right attitude about how we're approaching our games and the results kind of take care of themselves."

First up? At LaSalle University tomorrow night. Game-time is slated for 7 p.m. under the lights in Philadelphia, Pa.