The Emory University women's soccer team finished the 2015 season with an overall record of 8-6-4, the program's 27th consecutive season with a winning record. The Eagles were 1-3-3 in UAA action to finish seventh in the league's standings.
Emory's schedule was again one of the tougher slates in the country as eight teams on the docket earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament, including four from the UAA. The Eagles were 1-6-1 in those games with the lone victory coming in the season opener on September 1st, a 1-0 decision at Sewanee.
The Blue and Gold began the season 7-2 with a season-best six game winning streak. The streak opened with a pair of victories over Washington & Lee and Bridgewater College at the Washington & Lee tournament in Lexington, VA. The latter of the wins came down to the wire as senior Jordan Morell found the back of the net in the 87th minute to give Emory a 2-1 win over the BC Eagles. During the stretch, the Eagles outscored opponents by a whopping 20-2 margin. Nine of those tallies came in Emory's 9-0 shellacking of Brooklyn College on September 25th. In the game, nine players recorded at least one point, a season-high, led by sophomore forward Kaitlyn Dorka who recorded a career-high five points. Freshman forward Grace Edgarton scored her first two career goals in the game and junior forward Cristina Ramirez tied a school single-game record with four assists.
The Eagles closed out the season playing in a school record five straight double overtime games, going 0-1-4. In that stretch of play, the Blue and Gold played their best game of the season in a 1-1 tie at Division I Kennesaw State on October 27th, outplaying the Owls for the majority of the 110 minutes. Sophomore midfielder Melissa Ardizzone scored her first career goal in the seventh minute to give Emory an early advantage. The Eagles held onto the lead until the 81st when KSU scored the equalizer. Senior goalkeeper Liz Arnold tied a career-high with eight saves in a terrific performance.
The defensive unit was again a strength of the team in 2015, allowing just 14 goals in 18 contests to go along with seven shutouts. Led by seniors Arnold and Ally Peterson, First Team All-UAA selection Hannah Meyer and freshman Nikki Batt who played in all 18 games, making 17 starts, the unit posted a 0.733 goals-against average, a mark that ranked 58th in the country. Arnold made 16 starts in goal in her senior season, going 5-6-3 with four shutouts, 52 saves and a 0.818 GAA which ranked 70th in the nation among all Division III goalkeepers.
On the offensive side of the ball, 12 Eagles scored at least one goal during the season with seven members notching at least two goals or more. Ramirez led the team with five goals and five assists for 15 points. Dorka was second with eight points (3g, 2a) followed by Morell who registered seven points (3g, 1a). Freshman Sophia Dillon topped all rookies with three goals followed by Abbe McCarter and Edgarton with two tallies a piece.
Six Eagles earned All-UAA honors led by Meyer's First Team selection. Arnold and Peterson were named All-Association for the third and second time in their careers, respectively. Making their first ever appearances on the All-UAA teams were a trio of sophomore midfielders Ardizzone, Melinda Altamore and Anna Gurney, all were named Honorable Mention.
Despite missing out on the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six seasons, Emory's future looks bright as several underclassmen took sizeable steps forward in 2015 and seven freshman appeared in at least 13 games. The Eagles will graduate just four seniors in the spring – Arnold, Peterson, Morell and Kristin Temple.
The Eagles earned the following honors during the 2015 season:
All-University Athletic Association |
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Hannah Meyer |
First Team |
Austin, TX (Westlake) |
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Liz Arnold |
Honorable Mention |
Cincinnati, OH (Summit Country Day) |
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Ally Peterson |
Honorable Mention |
Houston, TX (Clear Lake) |
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Melinda Altamore |
Honorable Mention |
West Windsor, NJ (W. Windsor-Plainsboro South) |
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Melissa Ardizzone |
Honorable Mention |
Chappaqua, NY (Horace Greeley) |
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Anna Gurney |
Honorable Mention |
Bethesda, MD (Walt Whitman) |
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CoSIDA Academic All-America |
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Liz Arnold |
Second Team |
Cincinnati, OH (Summit Country Day) |
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CoSIDA Academic All-District |
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Liz Arnold |
Cincinnati, OH (Summit Country Day) |
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UAA Athletes of the Week |
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Hannah Meyer |
Austin, TX (Westlake) |
Sep. 22 |
2015 Emory team leaders:
Goals |
Cristina Ramirez |
5 |
Assists |
Cristina Ramirez |
5 |
Points |
Cristina Ramirez |
15 |
Game Winning Goals |
Cristina Ramirez & Jordan Morell |
2 |
Shots |
Kaitlyn Dorka |
42 |
Shots on Goal |
Cristina Ramirez |
21 |
Wins |
Liz Arnold |
5 |
Saves |
Liz Arnold |
52 |
Shutouts |
Liz Arnold |
4 |
Goals Against Average |
Liz Arnold |
0.82 |
Emory in the final NCAA Division III statistical rankings (out of 433 ranked teams):
Category |
Rank |
Total |
Scoring Offense |
280th |
1.39 |
Goals-Against Average |
58th |
0.733 |
Shutout Percentage |
138th |
.389 |
Won-Lost-Tied Percentage |
171st |
.556 |
Save Percentage |
118th |
.811 |
Saves Per Game |
378th |
3.33 |
Assists Per Game |
311th |
0.78 |
Points Per Game |
296th |
3.56 |
Total Assists |
300th |
14 |
Total Goals |
275th |
25 |
Total Points |
287th |
64 |
Eagles in the final NCAA Division III individual statistical rankings (top-200 players ranked):
Category |
Name |
Rank |
Total |
Goals-Against Average |
Liz Arnold |
70th |
0.818 |
Save Percentage |
Liz Arnold |
146th |
0.800 |