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Message: [QUOTE="dbmill, post: 1798247, member: 2504"] After the end of last season I heard speculation that with Rachel Hill, Ribeiro, and Armstrong all being seniors that UConn women’s soccer would be primed for big things this season. My thought was that this could indeed be true, but I also had a nagging feeling at the time that the Huskies had lost several talented and experienced players though graduation, and that the women’s team might very well not be as good this season, particularly if the incoming freshmen did not make an immediate splash. Sam Maguire had an excellent career at UConn, while players like Andrea Plucenik and Liana Hinds also contributed to the offense. Other significant losses included Brianna Butler, Gabby Cuevas, Megan Hunsberger, Annie Wickett, and Ruby Fee, all of whom spent some time as starting players for the team. Well, all these players are gone, and the team is certainly missing them. And while several of the incoming freshmen have gotten quite a bit of playing time, I would hardly say that any of them of made what could be called an immediate splash of significant contributions. This is in contrast to what I’ve seen the last few years, when there always seemed to be a few freshmen or transfers making immediate and significant contributions to what was going on in the field of play. Rachel Hill is certainly the best player the women’s soccer team has had in several years, but it is quite clear that at this point in the season the supporting cast around her does not have the talent or depth of last year’s team. In order for this team to match preseason expectations, the freshmen need to show improvement and grow up fast, and that is something I’m not sure will happen from this group of newcomers. We’ll see. From what I’ve seen, freshman Kristin Vinciguerra has been starting and it looks like she could become a nice contributing player, and I would like to see highly touted redshirt freshman Annika Schmidt get more playing time as well. Sophomore Kim Urbanek, who showed a lot of ball handling and distribution skills last season, needs to get more playing time as well. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach