Zack Ciboth, Sports Reporter
The UNC Pembroke women’s soccer team is looking to continue to build on their program’s recent success and make even more history this upcoming 2024 season. The Braves are coming fresh off winning their third straight Conference Carolinas Championship and a NCAA Division II Tournament appearance.
“Well, I mean I think, you know, we had a really good spring. I think the players that we have returning understand that, you know, it’s not gonna get any easier. You have a target on your back, you won three championships in a row. When people play us, for the most part, it’s the biggest game of the season. They’re gonna give you their very best on the road or at home,” Braves Head coach Lars Andersson said.”I think in this league, when we came into this league, we brought a athleticism size and a tenacity that was really a little new to this league and people have to adjust in recruiting now.”
This past season the Braves put together a successful 2023 campaign in which the team compiled an overall record of 12-4-2 and a Conference record of 10-1-3 finishing with a winning percentage of .711. In the Conference Carolinas Tournament, they went 2-0 and defeated Belmont Abbey 2-1 to win the title. UNC Pembroke then went on to face Catawba in the NCAA Tournament where they fell 3-0 to the Indians
“I think our players understand what it, what it takes to win. And we have great leadership in, in Anna Grossheim, Eugenie Amidou who are experienced players. I mean, you know, Anna is a fifth year Covid senior who has won three championships in, in her four years of college.And I think they’re, they’re motivated to reach even greater heights. I mean, to be crystal clear, we’re, we’re not happy just winning. Although we are, we’re thrilled to win the conference championship,” Andersson said.”Our goals are to not just make the NCAA tournament. But, but you know, one of the goals this year for this team is to make history. And we’ve been in the second round of the NCAAs before, but we’ve never been made it a Sweet 16.”
Andersson enters this season in his 24th season as the Head coach of the Braves program. Alongside Andersson is Associate Head coach Brittany Padilla who is beginning her 10th season with the Braves Program. The Braves roster consist of 10 returners from last season and nine newcomers
“I think it’s, you know, making sure they understand what our team culture is. ’cause I’ve always said, and I, you know, I’ve lectured on this team culture can be initially established by a coach, but team culture survives and thrives when it’s enforced by the, by the team, by the players on the team,” Andersson said.”We have a, a great mixture of veteran players. We have six starters returning.We have 10 new players and, and obviously some of these players are gonna be in the starting lineup when we lace ’em up on a, in a first game against North Georgia.”
The Braves 2024 season starts off with familiar competition for the Braves as they face some tests early on beginning with two preseason scrimmages against USC Beaufort and Catawba. The Braves will also face North Georgia, Lenoir-Rhyne, Limestone and Wingate outside of their conference matchups.
“I think we won three games against North Georgia in a row, all in overtime. Then they finally beat us and it was in overtime. We, we had, we had four meetings in a row that went to overtime. Now obviously we don’t play overtime anymore, but we’ve just had a, just a rivalry and, and I think it’s a, it’s a good rivalry in the sense that both clubs do things the right way,” Andersson said on facing North Georgia.
And our non-conference schedule this year, regular season, not, not counting scrimmages include North Georgia. They were in the NCAA’s, Lenoir-Rhyne they were in the NCAA’s, Wingate they were in the NCAAs. And then, oh, we play Limestone, the team that we actually lost to last year. So I think that’s a great test. And then add into it a solid USC Beaufort team team that we’d never played before. But I mean, they, they had good results last year. And then Catawba who if I were to pick a favor to come out of a region this year,” Andersson said.
They officially begin their season Sept. 5th when they travel to North Georgia before playing their home opener on Sept. 8 at 2 p.m. against Lenoir-Rhyne.