Delhi Women's Soccer wrapped up their 2023 regular season last weekend and now look to retain their North Atlantic Conference Championship title, starting this Saturday, October 28th. The Broncos, under head coach Zach Ward in his third year, will play second seed, VTSU-Johnson at SUNY Poly at 1:30 PM in the NAC West Semifinal match.
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"We set out this season to host the West Division playoffs for a 3rd consecutive season but fell a little bit short. We're still in a good position to get back to the final, we just have to manage playing two games away from home. I'm not sure if we've played our best soccer yet this year but this group keeps finding a way to grind out results. I think that type of mentality is a good one to have especially when we aren't guaranteed more than the 90 minutes given at the start of the match," said Coach Ward, "We've discussed a lot these past few weeks about how our response to adversity will define our season; not the results of certain matches. I'm excited for the weekend. I'm excited for the opportunity to see us compete at our highest level. If we do that, we'll be in a good position to host the final next weekend."
Women's soccer didn't skip a beat from last year's record-setting season when they became the first SUNY Delhi team program to go to an NCAA tournament after winning the conference. After losing their first match of the season, the Broncos rattled off 10 matches unbeaten, going (8-0-2). They used their strong start to carry them through conference play and the regular season, finishing with 10 wins for the second time in the last three seasons. With a regular season record of (10-3-2) and (5-1-2) in conference play, they secured the third seed in the NAC West.
In 15 matches played, the green and gold defense allowed just 12 goals, less than one per match. The mix of young defenders, including freshman Ava Britsch and Ava Battista, combined well with the veteran leadership of senior Reanen Goodspeed and sophomore Ayla Vorisek.
Sophomore Shaniyah Myers led the attacking unit, with a team-high of eight goals, ranking 15th in the NAC. Freshmen Lizzetta Myers and Kaitlyn Hines have been great offensive additions, with Myers scoring six goals and Hines assisting on four in their first regular season.
More season standouts include senior midfielder Kayla Beers, who has four goals, freshman Jacey Nieckarz, who has seven points (three goals, one assist), and freshman Vanessa Sanchez, who has four shutouts in 10 games in goal.
The Broncos will play VTSU-Johnson on Saturday, October 28th at SUNY Poly at 1:30 PM EST in the first round of the NAC tournament. The two teams met just once in the regular season with the Badgers winning 2-1 on October 14th.
