The 2024 season welcomes a lot of new changes for the Case Western Reserve University women’s soccer team.
On May 15, it was announced that Alyssa Johnson would be the seventh head coach in program history. Johnson had previously been the head coach at Bethany College, where she recently finished her fifth season with the team. On July 22, Johnson announced that Ross Minick would join the coaching staff as assistant coach.
Former head coach Abby Richter was named head coach in 2022. During Richter’s first season with the team, she led them to have one of CWRU’s most successful seasons amongst all sports teams as they finished as runner ups in the 2022 NCAA tournament. They also broke numerous program records, including most wins and most consecutive wins.
Although the 2023 season did not follow up with the same success, the Spartans hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA Division III tournament on DiSanto Field and made their fourth straight NCAA Division III tournament appearance. In the tournament, they beat Grove City College 5-1 but fell to John Carroll University in the second round 0-1. They finished the season with an overall record of 12-2-4 and a 3-1-3 record in conference play.
The team began working with Johnson this summer as she took the time to meet each of the players. Third-year forward/midfielder Alexis Sassower commented on her experience with Johnson.
“I think that she totally understands us as people and players. We had a lot of conversations over the summer with the coaches to get to know them before the season, and I’m excited to see where it goes with them,” Sassower said.
Sassower also further elaborated on working with the new coaches and how the team has been adapting.
“They’ve been very receptive to working with our previous successes and the things that worked and building off of that. So it’s been nice to kind of continue with what we know works and not have to totally shift everything,” Sassower added.
Beyond the changes with the coaches, fourth-year forward Carolyn Koutures also mentioned how the team dynamic differs from the 2023 season.
“Last season we had a lot of fifth years and a lot of older talent. I think this is a lot more of a newer team. The senior class is very small. Our junior class is pretty big. But I would say that this team is definitely a younger team, and I think we have a quicker playing style this year. A lot of like, young, quick players, but I think we’re gonna try and corporate that with our old style of play and with the kind of play that our new coach wants us playing. I think we’re going to try and play more attack minded this season, which I think could work well for us,” Koutures said.
Alongside their new coaches, 10 first-year players join the squad.
In front of the net, first-year goalkeepers Ellie Palaian and Pia Sachdev join graduate student Maggie Storti who enters her fifth season with the team. Storti is currently the program’s record holder in both career wins and shutouts.
Aiding in defense, first-years Kinzly Gootman and Peyton Kyle will compete for time on the backline. Experienced players returning to the backline include fourth-year Katie Rishel and second-year Kat Tsarouhas, who both started in all 18 games last season.