By Nick Morgan, Contributing Writer
Both the men and women’s soccer teams at Asbury have struck gold in their recruiting classes. The men’s team (6-3-1) sports 15 underclassmen on their 29 man team, while the women’s team (5-4-1) has 21 in their 29 rostered players. It is unusual to see freshmen getting a lot of minutes at a collegiate level, let alone performing at the same level as talented upperclassmen. Coach Ben Andrews, head coach of the men’s soccer team, and Coach Brooke Lincoln, head coach of the women’s soccer team, both admitted that age does not matter when they make their team sheets. “If you’re good enough, you’re old enough,” Andrews said.
“It’s every coach’s dream to field 11 seniors each game because that means they have three years of experience, and they know how the system is run,” said Lincoln. Lincoln, in her fourth year as head coach of the Lady Eagles, is fresh off a conference championship with a program-first national tournament berth. “College soccer isn’t easy. Playing for me isn’t easy. I ask a lot out of my players,” Lincoln said. “A lot of our underclassmen have to grow up in a hurry.”
[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]It is unusual to see freshmen getting a lot of minutes at a collegiate level, let alone performing at the same level as talented upperclassmen.[/perfectpullquote]
Both soccer teams have looked to their underclassmen to step up into big roles and perform at a high level. Sophomore Emily Hubbuch has already stepped up this season. Teryn Wright, a senior last season, was the leading goal scorer with 13 goals a year ago, while Hubbuch was second with 9. This year, however, Hubbuch already has a team leading 7 goals.
On the men’s side, it’s not unusual to see freshmen and sophomores get significant minutes for Andrews. Noah Welch, a freshman forward, has contributed heavily in his first season at AU. Welch currently leads the team in goals (6) and assists (5). “I wouldn’t say I felt pressure coming into Asbury’s program” said Welch, “but I knew I needed to perform to the best of my ability, and that’s what Ben [Andrews] expected of me”.
“Noah played at an extremely high level in high school, so we knew that he would be an important piece to our team.” added Coach Andrews. Welch played for Orlando FC, an affiliate club for the English side, Queens Park Rangers.
With these talented underclassmen getting quality minutes, expect to see both programs become a serious threat in the River States Conference within the next few seasons. With the addition of IU East’s men’s soccer program, another spot opens up for a team from the RSC to move on to the national tournament, a goal that Coach Andrews believes is an attainable. The Lady Eagles continue their run of conference championships and make their way back into the national tournament consistently.
Look to see both the men’s and women’s soccer teams return home from a three-game road trip to take on the University of Cincinnati – Clermont on Homecoming night, October 8 with a 5 p.m. kickoff for the women and 7 p.m. for the guys.
