In mid-August, 1997, Mary Washington College Head Coach Kurt Glaeser had many important questions to answer. First, the Eagles' mentor needed to replace a quality group of seniors from the 1996 team that won the Capital Athletic Conference title. Glaeser also needed to find a quality goalkeeper, as well as a way to mature a group of players that included eleven underclassmen.
Three months later, Glaeser had found all the right answers, as his team rose to #3 in the nation (its highest ranking ever), advanced to the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals for the second time ever, and won a school-record 18 games. Indeed 1997 was a banner season for Mary Washington's women's soccer team. In addition to all the national accolades, the Eagles won their third straight CAC title, had a record seven players earn First Team All-CAC honors, and won the South Regional Tournament for the first time ever. MWC won the Midwest Regional en route to its final four appearance in 1992. Other accolades followed the Eagles, who set a school and Capital Athletic Conference record with a 19-game unbeaten streak a year ago.
A record five players were named first team All-State, with six players earning All-Region honors. Leading the way for the success of the Eagles was All-CAC and All-State goalkeeper Anne Wenthe, who in 1996 was named first team All-CAC as a forward. Her switch to the goal proved to be an instrumental move in two ways - it allowed the athletic Wenthe to be the last line of a defense that set school and conference records with 15 shutouts, and allowed an immensely talented group of underclassmen to evolve into the most prodigious offensive unit in the South Region.
Freshmen Ellen Anderson (14 goals, 6 assists) and Laura Stafford (11 goals, 7 assists) finished second and third in the CAC in scoring, and along with sophomore play maker Johanna Klein (7 goals, 2 assists), provided MWC's offensive punch. All three were named All-Region, All-State, and All-CAC, with Anderson being tabbed the league's Rookie of the Year. Although the Eagles don't have a large quantity of seniors lost to graduation in '98, they do lose four quality All-State and first team All-CAC players in Wenthe, midfielder Jaime Kwiatkowski, defender Adrien Snedeker, and First Team All-America sweeper Felicity Smith.
Despite the loss of those players, MWC will look to return to the NCAA Tournament again in '98, with the help of the strong core of returning players and another excellent crop of recruits. Heading the list of returnees are 1998 co-captains, forwards Johanna Klein and Kristen Mercer. Klein repeated as All-State as a sophomore, while Mercer added six goals and three assists in '97. Other returning forwards include Stafford, who eamed first-team All-South Region in 1997; Leah Phillips (4 goals, 1 assist), and Erica Salmin.
A strong group of midfielders also return in 1998: Anderson, Sarah Downey (4 goals, 1 assist in '97), Sarah Zelenak (3g, 3a), and Martine St. Germain (3 goals). Defensively, the Eagles will welcome back standouts Jill Stecher (4 assists), Brooke and Colby Carrier, Sara Andersen, and Steph Whichard from a defense that allowed just three goals after halftime in 1997. With the outstanding success of the 1997 team, Glaeser will look to again have a national-caliber recruiting class this year. If these additions can prove to be as valuable as last year's class, the Eagles may find themselves again vying for the National Championship in 1998.