WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- A handful of seniors, including three-time All-Northwest Conference player Meghan Bowen, the Whitman College women's soccer team has its sights set on moving up the conference standings this fall.
"We're looking forward to this season for a number of reasons," Whitman coach Scott Shields says. "We have a fantastic group of seniors who have dedicated themselves to making this program stronger every year. We also have a roster that is the deepest it's been in over 10 years."
After tuning up with exhibition games against the Whitman alumni and Walla Walla Community College, the Missionaries launch their season on Sept. 3, hosting Eastern Oregon University at the Whitman Athletic Fields.
Whitman will play four more non-conference games, two of them home contests, before kicking off its NWC season with a Sept. 24 hosting of Whitworth College.
The Missionaries are building on the momentum of two successive solid seasons, having posted win-loss records of 9-9 last fall and 9-8-1 the season before. In conference play, Whitman was 5-9 and 5-8-1 the past two years, finishing in the middle of the NWC pack.
"We are aiming at the top of the conference this fall, and we're putting in the extra effort to take us there," Shields says. "We look forward to raising our finish in the conference standings."
Bowen, a defender from Bellevue, Wash., earned First-Team All-NWC honors last season as a junior, after receiving honorable mention recognition in her first two seasons. She also was named to the NCAA Div. III Far West All-Region Third Team the past two years.
"As always, Meghan will be running the show in the back," Shields says. "She remains the backbone of our defense and our team in general."
Other seniors are Sara Weihmann, a midfielder from West Linn, Ore.; Kaitlin Varady, a forward from Fairfield, Calif.; Lindsay Gore, a defender from Bainbridge Island, Wash.; and Rena Parcells, a goalkeeper from Walla Walla, Wash.
Varady has been a consistent scoring threat over the past three seasons, booting nine goals and handing out four assists. Last fall, however, Varady had plenty of help at the offensive end. Mckenzie Hoffman, a first-year forward from Redmond, Wash., led Whitman in scoring with eight goals and one assist, earning Second-Team All-NWC honors. Lauren DeYoung, a first-year player midfielder from Portland, Ore., added seven goals and three assists.
Katey Schmitz, a junior forward from Medina, Wash., adds more proven firepower to the Missionary attack. Slowed by injury at the start of last season, she nonetheless finished with seven goals and an assist.
Two seasons ago, Schmitz led Whitman in scoring with seven goals and earned First-Team All-NWC honors, one of only two first-year players to reap that award. She also received All- Region Third-Team recognition that season.
Gore, a starter on defense since her freshman season, joins Bowen in anchoring Whitman's defense. Kim Boese, a junior from Edmonds, Wash., also is a returning starter on defense.
Weihmann and Jennifer Telfer, a sophomore from Bellingham, Wash., will be "our go-to players in the midfield," Shields says. "Their abilities make them a great combination in midfield."
Parcells, the starting goalkeepr in her first two seasons, missed last fall's competition while on foreign study at Australia's University of Queensland. As a sophomore, Parcells posted four shutouts and averaged more than seven saves a game. She averaged nearly eight saves in her first season, leading the conference in that category.
Shields expects Parcells to share time in goal this season with last season's starter, Anne Owen, a sophomore from Bozeman, Mont. Owen had four shutouts last season, three of which came in her first three games a collegian. She twice earned NWC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Other returning players include sophomores Kara Mackenzie (Spokane, Wash.), Emily Marshall (Bellevue, Wash.), Hillary Chisholm (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho), and Amy Kunkle-Patterson (Yakima, Wash.).
Rounding out the roster are seven first-year players. Those who might make an immediate impact, according to Shields, are Sammie Arthur (Belvedere-Tiburon, Calif.) and Jennifer Toy (Walnut Creek, Calif.) in attacking roles, Betsy Neel (Seattle, Wash.) in the midfield, and Erin Frame (Issaquah, Wash.) on defense.
Other first-year players are Megan McConville (Denver, Colo.), Vanessa Warner (Kent, Wash.) and Lindsay Wymer (Bothell, Wash.).