WINONA LAKE - Grace’s women’s soccer team enters the 2023 campaign with a plethora of new faces.
Head coach Michael Voss, the winningest coach in team history, will have 14 new players at his disposal for the fall.
Half of Grace’s newcomers arrive from overseas, including Netherlands, England, Wales, Scotland, Germany and the Dominican Republic.
Voss, part of a select group of NAIA soccer coaches with 200 career victories, was stoked about the potential of the young Lancer squad. He praised the group’s diversity of skills, noting in particular the players’ abilities with the ball at their feet.
“The technical ability of this group is very good. They are extremely competent and dangerous with the ball,” Voss said. “Their tactical awareness is also very sharp, which will allow us to add new dimensions to our play. We present an idea to them, and this group will learn it and be able to implement it quickly.”
The Lancers will have several key returners back, including multiple with NAIA National Championship playing experience.
Sofia Williams was Grace’s starting goalkeeper during the team’s memorable postseason run; she played in both of Grace’s NAIA tournament matches and started all four of Grace’s NCCAA tournament victories. Williams surrendered just nine goals across her 13 matches, recording four shutouts in the process.
Lilli Oberhoff was another key cog of Grace’s defense, which has won back-to-back NCCAA national titles. The versatile defender saw action in 23 of Grace’s 24 matches, helping Grace record 12 shutouts for the season.
Additionally, seniors Sam Vondersaar, Tori Twombly, Izzy Fenn, Kirsty MacGregor and Shannon Farnsworth provide experience in the midfield and in attack for the youthful squad.
Grace is poised to have a dangerous group of positional players this year. Voss maintained that the Lancers’ style of play would remain consistent to the program, continuing with Voss’s trademarked possession-attacking football. But Grace’s skill sets will allow the team to attack and possess the ball in even more creative ways.
“We will always be a possession team and will strive to be the top possession team in the nation. We have the ability to do new things this year, and we are more flexible in how we modify our possession-attacking football,” Voss said. “We are just scratching the surface on this team’s potential and adaptability.”
The incoming class provides a strong foundation for the team, according to Voss. He categorized the newcomers as “ambitious and driven” and noted their quality both on and off the field. “This group gives us a great nucleus for our team; they represent the core for our program going forward. They are quality people with good personalities who also play real, quality football. The redemptive potential in this group is outstanding.”
In order for Grace to reach its potential, the young Lancers will need to grow in confidence as they weather the ups and downs of a challenging schedule. The Lancers have not backed down from stiff scheduling in the past, and a young squad did not change that strategy for the 2023 campaign.
Grace will play seven teams who participated in the 2022 NAIA National Championships, including four ranked matches on the road.
The team will be tested early and often against top teams like Missouri Valley (last year’s No. 10 team) and Aquinas (No. 13) before battling against the Crossroads League. The conference continues to garner respect as one of the toughest in the nation; half of the conference (five teams) qualified for the NAIA tournament last fall.
One major ingredient for success that Voss is counting on is the team’s chemistry. He praised the team’s support of each other during the opening weeks of preseason as the family atmosphere has taken shape early.
“This group of people are excellent teammates; they will be really good to each other. It’s been fun to watch them invest and care about each other’s lives. They’ve completely bought into this team being a family,” Voss said. “When you have a team that is dynamically connected and supportive of each other, they mature quicker, serve each other quicker and grow faster in football. It’s been really fun to be around. This is a really tight team that supports each other.”
The Lancers’ season begins on Aug. 19 at Holy Cross. Grace’s first home match is Aug. 31 against Brescia.