The Wisconsin women’s soccer team is filled with experience, but while the starting lineup is composed largely of upperclassmen, a few freshmen are finding their way onto the pitch.
Amongst UW’s leading scorers this season are senior forwards Cara Walls and Kodee Williams, while juniors Kinley McNicoll and Rose Lavelle both bring World Cup experience to a Wisconsin squad that sits as the 13th-ranked team in the country.
Due in part to the unprecedented success the Badgers (13-2-1, 7-2-1 Big Ten) have experienced so far this season, not all the freshmen on the team have always found time on the field. However, the amount of pressure on freshmen to come in and make an impact on this year’s Badger squad, when they do play, is high as they aim to make the NCAA tournament this year after last season’s disappointing finish that came to an end in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament.
With the final stretch of the season right around the corner, Wisconsin head coach Paula Wilkins said she believes the freshmen are primed to make a strong impact as the team heads into postseason play.
“I think as they progressed, they’ve done better and got more acclimated playing in the environment we have, especially in practice,” Wilkins said. “I think that’s one positive thing to see as a coach because at the end of the season here, you’re going to need those players to be stronger at the end, and I think they’re going to be.”
But while the upperclassmen have been large contributors to the team this season, freshmen such as midfielder Becca Harrison are making a prominent impact for UW. Despite adjusting to college life off the pitch, Harrison has found success right away for UW in her first season.
Being thrown immediately into the starting lineup since the beginning of the season, Harrison has been forced to develop her skills at the Division I level under trial-by-fire circumstances. For Harrison, getting the opportunity to jump in right away is something she thinks will pay big dividends in the future.
“It’s definitely hard, but I think being forced right into that is the best way to overcome any fears,” Harrison said. “But I think it would be harder to not be so involved at first, and have to ease into it rather than just be thrown into everything. I feel like I’ve adapted faster because I’ve just been forced to.”
While it took until the seventh game of the season to net her first goal, Harrison sure picked the right time to do it.
On the road and in her Big Ten debut against a previously undefeated Michigan State squad, Harrison started off the game with an early first half goal to give the Badgers the advantage. After the Spartans forced overtime, she wasted little time putting the match away with a goal in the 91st minute off a corner kick. The clutch performance from Harrison kept the Badgers undefeated at 7-0-0.
In addition to Harrison, fellow freshman midfielder Alexis Tye and forwards Sydney McGinnis and Caitlyn Riley have earned some valuable minutes in their first season due to injuries in the starting lineup on offense. While freshmen defenders Arlyn Reed and Jordan Blaser haven’t taken the field yet this season, much of that can be attributed to the dominance of the Badgers’ starting backline, which includes upperclassmen Alexandra Heller and Briana Stelzer. Through 16 games this season, the Badgers have shut out their opponent 11 times.
For a team reliant on senior leadership, which includes mentoring opportunities for the young players on a daily basis in both practice and games, Wilkins can see a promising future in the making once the core of the starting lineup graduates this season on both sides of the ball.
“I think it’s huge, I think that they see in practice the pressure that they’re going to need to play at,” Wilkins said. “And you can see development in a month what they’re going to do, and I think that’s a huge part. I think that the environment in any college setting is really important, so they know what our forwards are expected to do, and Cara [Walls] and Kodee [Williams] are almost a second coach because they’re giving them information, so it’s a great environment for them.”
Wilkins will be counting on her younger players to step up not only this season but next season as well and fill the shoes of four starting seniors in the current lineup, with Walls, Williams, Heller and goalkeeper Genevieve Richard all playing their final seasons as Badgers.
