Kylie Bridenhagen/Winonan

After finishing second to Minot State at last season’s Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament game with a 1-0 loss, the Winona State University soccer team is back to reclaim their spot as number one in the NSIC.

Last season, the Warriors had a young team with 14 new faces, while returning 12 players from the previous season and were able to obtain a 16-5 overall record, with a 13-2 record in NSIC play.

Although they shut out 11 of the 21 opposing teams and allowed only 14 goals last year, the team is ready to step it up to stay atop the conference rankings.

“They started training camps on the 19th, often doing 2-a-days and also had summer fitness,” head coach Ali Omar said, “They came in showing a different maturity level than last year, looking more athletically fit and soccer savvy.”

The Warriors have already played in three exhibition games, shutting out two of their opponents, and allowing only one goal with the other.

They recorded a 6-0 shutout against St. Mary’s University in the first game. The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire was next, where they recorded their second shutout with a 4-0 victory.

In their latest exhibition, they beat the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, 5-1.  Omar commented that they look, “refocused and recommitted,” going into this season.

The Warriors saw success last season in some key players that included Kelsey Foss, Morgan LeFebrve, and Rebecca McCoy.

LeFebrve earned National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-Regional Second Team honors and All-Region Academic honors, as well as a spot on the NSIC Second Team and NSIC All-Academic squad. Her senior teammate McCoy also had an outstanding list of accomplishments from the 2012 season. She was on the NSCAA All-Region Second Team and held All-Region Academic honors. In the NSIC, she was on the Second Team, as well one of their All-Academic student-athletes. McCoy was also named to the Daktronics All-Region Second Team. Foss, who was a freshman last year, earned awards in the NSCAA All-Region Third Team and NSIC Third Team.

The 2013-14 team has signed four fresh faces that joined the team this season. Because last year’s team had so many freshmen, Omar had to be selective with new positions for the upcoming season. New to the Warrior lineup this year are Megan Paulick, Meg Riebau, Kenzie Rose, and Gwen Vitalis.

This season, the Warriors are atop the NSIC preseason poll where they received 10 out of the 16 possible first-place votes. This is the 11th time since 2000 that Winona State has been favorited from the beginning of the season to win the NSIC tournament title.

Omar takes pride in his team’s past success and strongly believes that they can top their goal of winning conference this season. “My biggest accomplishment as a coach is the longevity of past season’s teams. They sustain success year in and year out,” Omar said.

The Warrior women’s soccer team kicks off their season when they host the University of Central Missouri at 7 p.m. on Sept. 6 at the Verizon Wireless Stadium.

Contact Kylie at [email protected]