Tough Win at the CMU Tournament

We earned a hard fought 2-1 win over Wittenberg of Ohio today in Pittsburgh at the Carnegie Mellon Tournament.  Wittenberg really stretched our defense as much as any team we've faced this year but our back line held on and we earned a good win.  Adria Graham assisted Stephanie Fazenbaker nicely in the 2nd half for the game winner after Stephanie put us up in the 1st half with the games first goal. It was a great team effort and we're learning more about our team every week and developing our mental toughness against different kinds of challenges with each game.  4 wins in 4 games to start the season - headed in the right direction...

A Great Start to our Pittsburgh Visit

Our visit to Pittsburgh has started very well both off and on the field.  The view from the wonderful waterfront Sheraton when we arrived last night was awesome.  On the pitch, we took care of business today defeating our former conference rivals Penn St.-Behrend 4-1.  A great start to the game was canceled out by an early equalizer from Behrend but we slowly gained control of the game and early in the second half got our reward.  Adria Graham had a terrific 3-goal, 1 assist performance and we got an awesome physical effort from our center mids - Courtney Mack, Brooke Longo, and Kelsey Wentworth. Our back line was again very solid in allowing only 2 shots in the match. 

Another good away win

Another strong road performance has given us terrific momentum to start the season.  You can see the confidence building in our young team with each game.  This week Adria Graham was the FSU Athlete of the Week and the FSU team earned the #8 place in the NSCAA South Atlantic Regional Poll.  A highly competitive tournament in Pittsburgh awaits this weekend.
NSCAA College Rankings are Linked Here

A Great Start!

What a terrific start to the season!  2 goals in each half and a shutout as we started our 2012 campaign with a 4-0 win at Catholic in D.C.  The Nation's Capital was toasty this weekend as temperatures hovered over 90 degrees during the game.  Our overall fitness and the quality depth of our roster both helped us maintain control of the match.  Adria Graham started her Junior season right where she left off in 2011- with a hat trick, and Katie Smith begins her career as our starter in the goal with a shutout performance.

A New Year with a New Team

The team visits Dan's Rock for the final sunset of summer. At nearly 3000 feet, you can see 4 States from this overlook.   Classes begin tomorrow and our season begins on Saturday.  Check here for updates on our progress and notice our photo slideshow is updated now for the new season with photos from Saturday's scrimmage. Thank You Rita Hegeman for the great photography!

Making Progress

Tonight we played our first opponent at home in 2012.  Both teams scored once as we tied Shippensburg over 90 minutes in a scrimmage game in the FSU Stadium.  Adria Graham scored an unassisted goal to tie the game after we conceded an early goal.  Overall, there are great signs of progress in our team and after a day off the field tomorrow, we'll have a full week to prepare for our season opener at Catholic in D.C. next weekend.

First Scrimmage of 2012

We outscored Shepherd University 2-1 on a warm Wednesday afternoon over 3 30-minute periods to open our competitive season for 2012.  After allowing a goal on a corner in the first period, Brooke Longo put a free kick from Liz Seligman onto the crossbar.  The rebound was pounded off the Shepherd keeper's hands by Adria Graham and Stephanie Fazenbaker pounced on the loose ball to tie the score.  A few minutes later Graham hit a perfect shot from 25 yards for the game winner.   No official stats were kept for the scrimmage of course but it was a good preseason test as both teams played with tons of energy and commitment.  We'll host another D2 team on Saturday, when Shippensburg visits the FSU Stadium for a 6pm start.

First Day of the Season

What a beautiful day for soccer here in Western Maryland!  70 degrees and partly cloudy for our first day of the 2012 season.  For a coach, it's like Christmas Day!  The team began with some fitness testing and played in different games for about 90 minutes this morning.  We'll do a short session this afternoon and then play a full-sided scrimmage tonight.  This is looking to be one of the most talented groups from top to bottom we've had in many years.  While we return nearly a full starting team from last year, many of the new players are playing very well and will be competing for important roles in the team in the coming weeks. Stay tuned...

Anytime you want to see what it's like here, check our weather station.  Soccer season is the best time of year here at FSU!
FSU Weather Station/WebCam

Summer Camps at FSU

We've had about 100 players on campus this past week for soccer camps here at FSU.   As expected, the weather was perfect and we had a great time hosting players from FC Frederick and from high school teams and our Soccer-Leaders program.

Pictured here is one of our camp groups and below is part of a scavenger hunt with one group finding the FSU Clock Tower.

Defining Commitment

Katie Smith

Just as our Spring season was ending in late April, 2 of our players concluded the additional training they were doing on their own by competing in Marathon events.  Freshman Goalkeeper Katie Smith ran the "Iron Girl" half-marathon in Columbia, MD while Freshman Stephanie Fazenbaker ran in the Pittsburgh marathon.  These 2 young players are also outstanding students and we look forward to seeing them represent FSU again soon on the field this Fall in their sophomore season and beyond.

Steph Fazenbaker

Sometimes, It IS About the Numbers...

The FSU Women's Soccer Team has just had another outstanding semester in the classroom!
FSU players this Spring collectively earned a 3.571 semester GPA that will easily qualify the team for the NSCAA Team Academic Award for a 5th year in a row.  The 3.571 is one of our highest ever team marks based on the strength of 6 players earning perfect 4.0s!  4 more players earned 3.7 or better GPA's with only 1 B grade this Spring.  That means these 10 players earned a combined 38 "A" grades in 42 total classes this semester. All our players should be very proud of their commitment to academic and athletic excellence here at FSU!

A special congratulations and best wishes to our Seniors!  Shown here at our Sr luncheon last week.

FSU Awards Banquet

Adria Graham

The Women's Soccer program had a great night Monday at the FSU All-Sports Athletic Banquet.  Sophomore Adria Graham was named the FSU Female Athlete of the Year and Senior Cassie Donahue was awarded by the Strength and Conditioning Staff as their Female Athlete of the Year. Adria was the CAC Conference Player of the Year  and a 1st Team Selection after leading the conference in scoring. 

2011 Seniors

Cassie was part of a Senior class that won a remarkable 68 games over their 4-Year careers in the FSU Women's Soccer Program.   They ended their Senior year with a home win this past Fall in the ECAC South Region tournament.  The banquet marks the last official function for the 2012 graduating class and we wish them all the best.

2011-12 FSU Awards Banquet