The Emory University women's soccer team comes off of a third consecutive NCAA postseason berth and enters into this season with a bevy of strong returning players and some high octane newcomers who hope to propel the team to new heights.
The Eagles come into the season as the No. 22 ranked team in the nation according to the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll. Head Coach Sue Patberg returns 17 players from last year's squad that went 12-5-3 and welcomes 14 new players to the 2022 squad. Patberg will be joined by Assistant Coaches Catherine Whitehill, Lindsay Cobb and Lauren Burke.
The Eagles welcome back All-Region Second Team performer Kylie Hall who led all Emory returners in points last season with 18 (5 goals, 8 assists). Other notable returners are senior Aubrey Blanchard, junior Mia Han and junior Olivia Friedman all of whom competed in each of Emory's contests in 2021. Starting in goal this season is senior Emma Miller who recorded a stat line of 33 saves and 0.56 goals allowed per match in 11 appearances.
The Eagles bring in a couple of notable transfer student-athletes including Ciannah Correa who, competing on Pomona-Pitzer last season, was a 2021 DIII Third Team All-American. Graduate transfer Haley Barge, who most recently competed with Franklin & Marshall College, was an All-Conference Second Team selection in 2021. Also transferring into the program is Mara Rodriguez who comes from Division I Providence where she played in 29 games, making 17 starts, for her career.
In addition, the Eagles welcome newcomers Correah, Barge, Rodriguez, Emma Bernstein, Michelle Davidson, Laila Farmer, Sophia Garcia, Nikki Grosso, Samantha Lim, Riley Miller, Rachel Perry, Beatrice Stone, Avery Thompson and Claudia Schmidt to the 2022 roster.
The Eagles begin their season on Thursday where they will travel up the road for a contest against regional foe Berry College, who the Eagles currently sport a nine-game winning streak over. Following their opening night match, Emory will travel out West where they are scheduled to take on Washington schools Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound.
After their West Coast escapade, the team will then return to Atlanta, GA where they will compete in their home opener against East Texas Baptist on Friday, September 9th. The Eagles play a match at home against Sewanee the following Friday before taking to the road for the remainder of September including a neutral match against Lynchburg in Charlotte, NC on Sunday, September 18th.
The Eagles begin October and conference play against No. 11 ranked WashU at home and they will remain at home for four of their next five games including matches against NYU, Brandeis and Chicago.
The final stretch of the season includes a trip to Piedmont on Thursday, October 20th before a weekend trek up North where the Eagles will take on No. 15 Carnegie Mellon (Oct. 28) and No. 12 Case Western Reserve (Oct. 30). The Eagles close out the regular season with a final match at home against Rochester on Saturday, November 5th.
In total the Eagles are set to play seven matches at the Woodruff PE Center, nine true road contests and one neutral game.