2023 Season Preview
Livonia, MI- As we get ready to begin the 2023-2024 school year. We start the year off by looking ahead to the 2023 women's soccer season. The 2023 women's team comes into the season returning only 6 players from their 2022 national tournament qualifying team. Head coach Ken Shingledecker had this to say when asked about having to replace 95% of their goals from last season, "We think that we have hit the jack pot in our efforts of replacing Cece, Taylor, and Katie. Kyra Brandon is a former Michigan Hawks ECNL player that transferred from D1 Xavier University, Paige Stephens is a fast dynamic forward that started 16 games as a freshman at Alma College last season, Brynn Riley is a big strong forward that is excellent back to goal and has shown valuable attacking qualities, and Ashley Hughes is fast and can score with both feet".
Due to all the newcomers coming into the program, 15 in total, it is going to be vital for the sophomores to display leadership all year to get the team back to where they were last season. "The returning players gained a ton of experience from our post season run. They enjoyed the success and know what it takes to return to the form of last year's team. Passing along that experience to the new players will play a major role in this season's success"- Ken Shingledecker.
It will certainly be a quick and important start for the Ocelots. The season kicks off at home on August 17 when the Ocelots welcome Northeast CC to town. Northeast was a nationally ranked program last year, making it to the national tournament as the 9th seed. Shingledecker was asked about some keys this year to improve on last year's success and the one thing the 2023 team must focus on to make it back to Tucson, " We have 15 new players on our roster this year. So, getting the group to come together will be the biggest challenge early in the season. The talent is comparable to last season, so I would say it's more of a reload, than a rebuild for us. Production from up and down the roster with be critical. We think we have a deep roster, but the players have to prove us correct. We're excited to get the season started and will face some very tough early season challenges with multiple nationally ranked teams on our schedule". There are 2 more nationally ranked programs on the schedule for Schoolcraft. On August 26, the Ocelots hit the road and travel to Monroe Community College (NY). Last season, Monroe came to town to kick off the 2022 season and handed the Ocelots a 4-0 loss. Later in the season, on September 29, Schoolcraft will play host to Southwestern Illinois College. The Blue Storm entered the national tournament last season as the 7th seed and produced a 1-1 record in the tournament. Those three games will prove critical to see how the Ocelots face off on the national stage.
There will be a fresh look on the Ocelots bench. Schoolcraft has added two coaches to the staff, joining Shingledecker and Scott Duhl, bringing the coaching staff up to four. When asked about what coach Deruvo and coach Hare bring to the staff, here is what Shingledecker had to say, " Alex (Deruvo) will step in as our goalkeeper coach. She's won two ECNL National Championships with the Michigan Hawks and played at Ball State University for the past 4 years. So, she brings a winning pedigree and a ton of knowledge of what it takes for goal keepers to take their game to the next level. Kenzie (Hare) is a former Schoolcraft standout that was instrumental to our success the past two seasons. She will help organize our midfield and back line along with assisting with the team's travel accommodations".
The full 2023 women's soccer schedule is posted here at, schoolcraftocelots.com. Come out to the Ocelot soccer complex to root on the Ocelots!