The Ithaca College women’s soccer program, the defending Liberty League Champions, are off to a 4–1–1 start this season as of Sept 19. The team’s success has been driven by its newfound depth across the roster and the South Hill squad is looking to build off of a successful 2022 season, where they reached the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Head coach Mindy Quigg said the team is happy with the way they have performed to this point in the season, highlighting the work ethic displayed at practice and during the seven games they have played so far.
“I think the women are pleased with our progress,” Quigg said. “We try to take it one day at a time as there’s still a lot we want to improve on, as it’s a long season, but we’re certainly happy with our work rate.”
Quigg said the team has put a lot of emphasis on the time spent away from practice, zeroing in on recovery and holding each other accountable.
“We talk a lot about focus and maintaining focus throughout the season,” Quigg said. “If you’re not taking care of yourself, no one is going to get any better from it. It’s important for them to be resting and eating properly so that the training conduct at practice is effective.”
So far this season, 11 players have scored a goal for the Bombers, with 14 players tallying at least one point and two of those goal-scorers being defenders — sophomore defender Ali Amari being one of them.
Amari said the team’s close connection with each other and their work ethic has catapulted them to their quality start this season.
“Every single practice everyone comes to play,” Amari said. “There’s a competitive team environment where everyone’s on their A-game. Everyone is always pushing each other and it’s not just one or 10 players, it’s the entire team. Having that culture and team camaraderie really helps us and has helped us these first few games.”
Amari said it is special to see the team’s true potential come to fruition at each game and practice after putting in a great deal of hard work, especially with a new class of nine first-year athletes.
To add to that depth, Amari said the coaching staff makes a point to reiterate that everyone on the team belongs and plays an important part in the program’s success and future.
“The coaches expect a lot from us,” Amari said. “They expect us to work hard every practice, be encouraging of one another and for everyone to find their role and embrace that. They do a great job of making sure that everyone knows they have a place and that this is a full team effort. Everyone has an impact no matter what.”
Before committing to the college, all of the athletes on the team maintained contact with the coaching staff, whether that be for recruitment, important questions or decisions like admission. Javier Mejia, assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, said the recruitment process begins as early as sophomore year of high school, as it takes time for prospective student-athletes to decide on a college.
“We like to take our time because we know it’s a huge life decision for these prospective recruits that we’re speaking to and we want to give them as much time as possible to make their decision and do some research,” Mejia said.
As the recruiting coordinator, Mejia said he enjoys maintaining contact with his athletes and prospective recruits, as he gets to know a lot of the younger athletes as early as a couple of years before their time in college.
“The recruiting process is fun because you get to know the prospective student-athletes pretty early,” Mejia said. “For example, [first-year midfielder Sophie White] played at the club I previously worked for, so I’ve known her for four years. You get to see them grow as a person, a student-athlete and mature, so that can be fun and exciting.”
Not all athletes are recruited to join their programs directly out of high school. Junior midfielder Julia Cascone is in her second season with the team after transferring from Clarkson University. Cascone, a physical therapy major, said the college was one of her top choices after her first year with the Golden Knights.
“I was a transfer so I came in last year and this past fall was my first year from Clarkson,” Cascone said. “The winter and spring of my first year, I was looking at other schools and we played Ithaca and I remembered how strong the team was. I also did more research into their academic programs. I’m a physical therapy major, so this program stood out the most and once I was accepted, I knew I had a special opportunity in front of me.”
Cascone said the team’s mentality of putting the team first over individual priorities has catapulted the program to their strong start this season.
“It’s the character and the grit that’s engraved into the DNA of the women’s soccer program,” Cascone said. “From the top on down, we were taught that grittiness and just how important our composure and team-first mentality is to the team. That trickles all the way down from the coaching staff through the upperclassmen down to the first-years. Once we hold onto that, we can rally as a team to achieve that one big goal of winning another Liberty League championship.”
Mejia said the first-year class has made an immediate impact on the program, both on and off the field with team chemistry and building relationships.
“We love the fact that they have embedded themselves, not just from a soccer perspective, but they seem to be getting along with the returners,” Mejia said. “There’s mutual respect from the older players to the younger ones and a healthy locker room is significantly more important than tactics so that’s great.”
As the team heads toward Liberty League play, Quigg said each of these early season games will serve as stepping stones for the team as they look to continue their early success.
“We just need to take it one day at a time and realize each game will be harder than the next,” Quigg said. “Each game will present new challenges to grow from and as long as we keep working hard, keep our minds open and recognize that, all of this is great preparation for Liberty League play.”
