Editor’s note: Staff Writer Jacob Infald works at the Office of Athletics Communication. This story was written before he accepted the job and all interviews were conducted before the acceptance as well.
For the Ithaca women’s soccer team, the 2025 season will be one with new faces but the same expectations. After winning their second Liberty League Championship Tournament in three seasons in Fall 2024, the squad enters the new year with lofty goals guided by a deep senior class and underclassmen looking to take advantage of new opportunities.
The Bombers continued their winning traditions in Fall 2024, with a dominant 14-3-4 record and played the majority of the season ranked nationally. They stormed through the Liberty League, losing only two games of conference play all season before defeating No. 11 William Smith College in an electric penalty shootout in the rain to secure the Liberty League championship.
However, the Bombers were led by a strong veteran group that consisted of multiple seniors and graduate students. They will be losing about 65% of their goal scorers from last season, including then-graduate students Sarah Sinnott ’24, Ally Stanton ’24 and Rosie Bostian ’24, who were the team’s top three goal scorers with 11, seven and six goals, respectively.
Fortunately for the South Hill squad, their head coach has had to navigate challenging situations like this before. Head coach Mindy Quigg is entering her 32nd season at the helm and is the longest tenured head coach on campus. She said losing so many contributors from last season hurts, but is a part of the maturation process of a collegiate program.
“While we’re certainly going to miss those seniors and grad students for sure as they were big contributors, I think we will still be highly competitive,” Quigg said. “Our goal is to still finish in the top two and win the Liberty League championship and that may just look a little different because our style will be different because of the personnel that we have.”
Quigg said she will be relying heavily on her seniors, who enter this season with many high-stakes matches under their belts. Senior forward Ava Detorie started all 21 contests last season and led the team with nine assists. Senior midfielder Kaelyn Fernandez will also be a key returner. A three-year starter, Fernandez leads all returners in goals from last season with four.
With Fernandez and Detorie leading the new look offense, the Bombers return three of their four starting defenders. Seniors Reese Ruegamer, Allie McCabe and Ali Amari all started more than 20 games for the Bombers in Fall 2024. McCabe said the new senior class is excited to build on everything they have learned in the program.
“The [seniors] last year … were awesome, they were great leaders, so I feel like our senior class is excited to step into that role and take what we’ve learned from each [class] and [lead] the team through that,” McCabe said.
Amari, who was an All-Liberty League second team honoree last season, joins Fernandez as the other three-year starter returning to the Bombers. Amari said the diversity of this senior class is what will set them up for success on and off the field.
“We all bring a different strength; some of us are more vocal, some of us are more tactical, some of us are the silly and goofy ones,” Amari said. “You need all the pieces of the puzzle to be able to lead the team and I think [with what] we have we’re set up for greatness.”
With gaps left open by graduated players that need to be filled, McCabe and Amari both mentioned junior forwards Lilyana Baldi and Jayne Bogle as two players who are expected to be key contributors on offense.
“There’s definitely a lot of people who can come in and make a difference, so I’m excited to see all of them get a bigger opportunity and see what they can do,” McCabe said.
Baldi and Bogle are members of a deep 10-member junior class that includes two new transfers. Despite their talents, this class has had limited opportunity due to the number of graduate students who returned last season with extra eligibility due to the COVID-19 virus impacting their freshman season.
Defender/midfielder Margo Kasenchar is the only junior who started in the Liberty League championship against William Smith. Despite what they lack in experience, Quigg had great things to say about this class and is confident that they will be able to step up this season.
“They’re a group that particularly allows us to throw a lot of different scenarios out there, they are all very smart players,” Quigg said. “I think it’s a talented group that we will be relying on greatly both on the field and off the field in terms of setting a tone for the season and continuing to reinforce our positive team culture.”
This positive team culture is something that seemingly stems from Quigg. Both McCabe and Amari said they love playing under her and trust Quigg both on and off the field.
“She has a purpose for everything,” Amari said. “Every little thing she has us do it’s done for a reason. She’ll build up fitness to be in our drills rather than just doing conditioning so she uses her time super effectively.”
The Bombers opened their season strong with two out-of-conference victories, defeating Elmira College 2-0 and Heidelberg University 1-0. They were led by Baldi who notched the lone goal in the Heidelberg victory along with an assist against Elmira. Fernandez and McCabe were responsible for the two Bomber goals against Elmira.
These were their first two of seven non-conference games before Liberty League play kicks off against Vassar College on September 27.
McCabe said the team will be taking things one day at a time, focusing on each individual practice and game in order to maximize each contest.
Quigg said she sets the season in four phases: preseason, out of conference, Liberty League play and then postseason.
“We’re just gonna keep focused on building every single day at practice and competing as hard as we can in scrimmages or out of conference play or in conference play, NCAAs, playoffs…just bring that same energy to every aspect of the season,” Amari said.
