The Basics
West Virginia Wesleyan women's soccer kicks off the 2022 season with a home nonconference game versus Slippery Rock on Thursday (Aug. 25) at 7 p.m. The Bobcats' first road test is scheduled for Sunday (Aug. 28) at Walsh in North Canton, Ohio at 1 p.m.
 
Quick Hits

• The Bobcats posted an overall record of 8-7-3 and a Mountain East Conference record of 8-6-2 in 2021.
• Natalia Roppolo and Beth Burchett have been selected as captains for the 2022 season. Roppolo, a Martinsburg, W.Va., native, logged 1,044 minutes last season and dished out three assists. From Prestonburg, Ky., Burchett appeared in 16 contests and started 10.
• Paloma Zamora and Kameron Bonneau both racked up a pair of goals in their first season donning a Bobcat uniform. Zamora started in 10 games while Bonneau saw action in 16 games.
• Hannah Murphy begins her second season as a mainstay player of the WVWC back line. The Seaford, Del., native made 14 starts as a freshman in 2021.
• Junior goalkeeper Ally Moore started in goal for 14 games last season. Moore made 66 saves and posted a .786 save percentage.
• Richard Owens begins his fifth season in charge of WVWC women's soccer. Lauren Baumgartner, a Bobcat soccer alum, starts her first season as an assistant coach.

Scouting Slippery Rock
Slippery Rock received a ranking of number three in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division Coaches' Poll. The Rock has had 25 consecutive winning seasons from their women's soccer program.
 
SRU returns 17 starters from their 2021 roster. Senior forward Kayla Swope scored seven goals in her junior campaign. The 2019 Second Team All-PSAC Western Division honoree accumulated 25 points in 2019 and 22 points in 2021. Emma Yoder returns between the posts as Slippery Rock's goalie. Yoder has made 176 saves in her three-year career at SRU.
 
Jessica Giegucz enters her eighth season at the helm of Slippery Rock women's soccer. Prior to SRU, Giegucz was the head coach at Northland College in Wisconsin.
 
Scouting Walsh
Walsh, a member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, posted a record of 5-11-4 overall in 2021. The Cavaliers' first game of 2022 will be versus Wesleyan.
 
Junior midfielder Hannah Stein scored five goals and chipped in two assists during her sophomore season. The Canfield, Ohio, native put 31 shots on target in 2021. Romina Parraguez played the entire season in goal for the Cavs. The Chilean made 95 saves.
 
The Cavaliers are led by fourth-year head coach Lauren Lewicki. Lewicki competed as a goalie at Wheeling Jesuit University and earned all-conference honors three times.
 
Up Next
The Bobcats will resume play after Labor Day with their first MEC matchup of the season at Glenville State on Sept. 7. WVWC will play at Charleston on Sept. 11 at 1 p.m.