The Case Western Reserve University women's soccer team is coming off the best season in program history and will look to replicate its success in the 2023 campaign.
Last season, the Spartans advanced to the NCAA Division III national championship, claimed the University Athletic Association championship for the first time, and won a program record 20 contests. CWRU set a Division III Tournament record with 23 goals during its march to the championship, though the Spartans fell to Johns Hopkins 2-1 in the title game. The team finished with an overall record of 20-1-1, including a 13-match winning streak to start the season.
Though the Spartans will lose four of their players that started all 22 matches last season, including All-Americans Camryn Hartman and Merry Meyer, 21 players return to the team. Headlining the returners will be Third Team All-Region VII honoree Maggie Storti, All-UAA honorable mention Aniya Hartzler, NCAA All-Tournament Team honoree Jamie Goldfarb, and senior forward Helina VanBibber.
Storti started all 22 matches in goal for Case Western Reserve, allowing only 14 goals and saving 61 shots in 1,863 minutes. She recorded eight individual shutouts, leading the team to a total of 11 clean sheets. Storti, who set the program record for career wins with 37 last season, will be looking to put her name atop the Spartan goalkeeper record book in 2023.
CWRU will have a depth of experience in goal, with senior Sydney Stone available off the bench. Stone played in four matches last season and has allowed just one goal in her career in 138 minutes in front of the net.
The team will look to emulate its success in 2022 offensively, when it scored a program record 70 goals. Hartzler, entering her fifth season with the team, was a key player in the midfield last season. She tied for the team lead with 10 assists, tying the program record with 21 for her career. She added six goals to finish the campaign with 22 points, third-most on the squad. Goldfarb had a standout debut season for CWRU, scoring a goal and tallying two assists in the NCAA Tournament. VanBibber ended the season second on the team in points, scoring 10 goals and adding four assists. For her career, the fifth-year senior has 14 goals and eight assists in 46 matches.
Other experienced offensive options for the Spartans include junior forwards Carolyn Koutures (five goals, one assist in 22 matches) and Sophia Stellabotte (20 career appearances, nine career starts), junior midfielder Abigail Meneses (17 appearances, nine starts), sophomore forwards Maggie Farra (five goals, one assist in 20 matches) and Andrea Silva (one goal, three assists in 18 matches), sophomore midfielder/forward Ceci Dapino (three goals, four assists in 18 matches), and sophomore midfielder Mackenzie Mueller (three goals, two assists in 17 matches).
In addition, junior midfielder Sydney Schenk (one goal, two assists in five matches) and sophomore midfielder/forwards Julia Flynn (one assist in 10 appearances) and Kit Shiells (three appearances), and sophomore forwards Alexis Sassower (two appearances) and Molly Shamah (one appearance) will compete for time on the field.
Defensively, the team will need to replace three 22-match starters from last season in Meyer, Lexi Gomez, and Elizabeth White. Junior Katie Rishel, who started all 22 matches last season, will lead the new-look defense. For her career, Rishel has appeared in 30 matches and recorded one assist. Returning options to start on the backline include senior Sumera Sandhir, junior Montgomarie Essex, and sophomore Emma Struck.
Richter brought in 10 newcomers who will look to make an impact on the squad, including nine first-year students and one graduate transfer. Graduate student forward Alyssa Soltis joins the team after three seasons at Notre Dame College in nearby South Euclid, Ohio. The first-year team members include midfielders Talia Ciralsky, Maya Healy, Marina Morris, Avery Reiman, and Angelee Rodriguez, midfielder/defenders Abby Noah and Kat Tsarouhas, and defenders Kaylee Bannack and Sadie DeAngelo.
Prior to starting conference play in the always tough UAA, the Spartans will face nine non-conference opponents. CWRU begins the season with a home match against crosstown rival John Carroll on September 1, one of five Ohio Athletic Conference opponents on the slate. After a trip to Ada, Ohio, to face OAC Champion Ohio Northern, the Spartans travel to Dallas, Pennsylvania, to face national quarterfinalist Misericordia, who went 21-1-1 last season, and Clarkson.
Case Western Reserve will then play three of its next four matches at home, taking on Oberlin (September 13), Baldwin Wallace (September 17), and Penn State Behrend (September 20), with a road trip to Otterbein on September 16 in the middle. The matchup against the Yellow Jackets will serve as the team's Senior Day. CWRU wraps up non-conference play with a trip to Columbus, Ohio, to face Capital, who qualified for the NCAA Tournament last season. The Spartans have not lost a regular season non-conference match since September 25, 2018, a streak of 33 consecutive wins.
The team will begin its UAA title defense with a road trip to New York University on September 30, a home match against Emory on October 7, and a trip to Rochester, New York, to face the University of Rochester on October 14. CWRU hosts Chicago on October 20 and plays its last regular season home match against WashU on October 22. To end the season, the Spartans will face Brandeis on the road on October 28 and travel to Pittsburgh for a matchup against archrival Carnegie Mellon on November 4. Last season, the Spartans and Tartans faced off in a de facto UAA championship match on DiSanto Field, with CWRU prevailing 1-0.
