MARCY, N.Y. - Coach Renaud, Coach Bove, Coach Streifert, and Coach Elderbroom are excited to welcome two new faces to the Wildcat roster in 2021. The two new players will join a roster of familiar faces who are motivated and ready to return to play after CoVID-19 canceled the Wildcat's season in 2020.
"This season our roster will show our limited number of players," said Head Coach Tyler Renaud "but our high level of talent, and great potential will make 2021 a very successful season. As long as our roster can remain healthy, I see us competing for the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Championship and a berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament. Every one of our players will be expected to play big minutes. We will do everything necessary to ensure that we are prepared."
In Coach Renaud's first season at SUNY Poly, the roster was just 13 strong. Despite that, the Wildcats were just a minute away from a Championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance. Coach Renaud said " I see similar traits in this team, with a huge upside. All 14 of our players want to be here and play at the highest level. Their desire to compete did not waiver through the fall of 2020 into the spring of 2021 when we were not able to get on the field. The adversity faced last year will pay dividends this fall."
Below is a summary of the two impact players coming into the Wildcat women's soccer program this fall.
Hannah Shipley
Churchville Chili High School
Engineering
Hannah, A Fifth Team All-State selection, 2-time Section V First Team selection, will be starting at the central midfield position for the Wildcats this fall. Hannah was Churchville's team captain and team MVP in 2020. She brings solid fundamental skills and field awareness to SUNY Poly. She is creative on the attack and excels in the critical scoring area. She will be exciting for SUNY Poly fans to watch this season.
"Hannah is a game-changer," said Coach Renaud "not only from the standpoint of her ability to score and create goals but also how she covers both ends of the field. She is able to recover quickly from the offensive third when we are under a counterattack. She is going to take the NAC by storm."
Kaitlyn Daley
New Hartford High School
The University of Hawaii at Manoa
Mohawk Valley Community College
Psychology
Kaitlyn is a proven goalscorer at the college level. In her one season at MVCC, she accumulated 26 goals and 10 assists. Her ability to position herself in the critical scoring area is something the Wildcat coaching staff is excited about. With high energy on the field, she creates possession opportunities with her persistence in closing on the opponent's back four.
"Kaitlyn reached out to us late in the process and we could not be happier, "said Coach Renaud. "She will be matched up with Sarah George at striker. Both have the knack to take on defenders 1 v 1 and or even 1 v 2. She will find the back of the net. It is not typical to score 26 goals, but even more rare to have enough offensive balance to also dish out 10 assists.