By Garrett Cleverly
College Preview Schedule Here (9 Universities, 21 Community Colleges)
PHOENIX (Monday, August 18, 2014) — With a proper offseason under his belt, Arizona Christian University women’s soccer head coach Jon Callahan is gearing his program up for a successful 2014 campaign.
Hired a week before the 2013 season, Callahan took over an unorganized program and was able to keep the team competitive in non-conference play, but hit a wall when conference play hit losing all ten matches. Callahan admits it was tough to jump into a program at the last second, but is highly optimistic for the upcoming year.
With quality players brought in through recruiting and transfers, and with four solid seniors returning, ACU is looking to make noise in conference play and has its eyes set on the future.
AZKicksIt has a chance to talk to Callahan about the upcoming season:
(On expectations for this year…)
CALLAHAN: “I was hired last year about a week before training camp started. It was tough, very last minute and made for a difficult year trying to keep things organized and things together. But we only won two games, and that is ok. We are going to be much improved this season. Expectations are that we can fully compete in the Golden State Athletic Conference. It’s a great conference, and last year Westmont College finished as the runner-up in the NAIA championship match. We are going to be a better group and we will certainly win a few more non-conference games this season, and really be able to build a base for the years to come, and to send our seniors off right.
(On the freshman class he brought in…)
CALLAHAN: “We have one young lady, Haile Claborne, who was with PVCC for the past two years. Certainly has had a lot of success there and it a really strong player. She will be playing a little more of an attacking role for us, and she brings a different level of athleticism, technical ability and tactical understanding of the game. We also have one player coming in from Nevada, Rachael Headley, who is a nice defender. She will add a bit more the backline, plus she has been out of school for a year, and that that extra maturity.”
(On the leadership of the seniors for the upcoming season…)
CALLAHAN: “This year we have four seniors. We have Kristi Hayes, was previously started her collegiate career at PVCC. She is going to bring a lot of pace to the outside, good service and hard work. Our four-year players start with Ericka Haddock who is from Nevada, and has be a stalwart in the midfield for us. She has been that general that leads, tackles, breaks up play, and wins the ball in the air. Chelsea Ruland is our senior from Tucson, who has been a really strong attacking threat over the last few years. Last year was a little but of a down season for her, bit I’m expecting her to rebound this year. She will be one of our captains and constant leaders who will keep everyone collected in the tougher moments. And then we have Mindy Kleppe, who will be playing fullback for us. She is one of the fittest girls on the team, super fast and provides us with an ability to build out of the back rather than just smacking and chasing the ball around.”