Ball State soccer will come into the 2017 season without five key seniors.
The team will be losing four starters with a combined four All-Mid-American Conference first team selections and two All-MAC second team selections, a two-time MAC Defensive Player of the Year and the team’s captain. Coach Craig Roberts has high expectations for the 10 incoming recruits Ball State will be welcoming to the team this season.
“Well obviously we’re looking to maintain or enhance the standard currently at Ball State,” Roberts said. “That includes their technical and tactical abilities, and also their mentality.”
The 2017 recruiting class includes:
- Midfielder/forward Josie Denton of Lawrenceburg, Indiana
- Forward Greer Glover of Carmel, Indiana
- Defender/midfielder Shelby Kean of Weston, Florida
- Goalkeeper Madison Lockard of Oswego, Illinois
- Defender Ali Martin of Medina, Ohio
- Midfielder/forward Juliana Rotolo of Columbus, Ohio,
- Midfielder/forward Amanda Shaw of Carmel Indiana
- Forward/midfielder Evie Stepaniak of Liberty Township, Ohio
- Forward Molly Van Horn of Reynoldsburg, Ohio
- Defender Ana Vera of Madrid, Spain
Josie Denton, Midfielder/Forward (Lawrenceburg, Ind./Lawrenceburg HS)
Greer Glover, Forward (Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS)
Shelby Kean, Defender/Midfielder (Weston, Fla./Saint Thomas Aquinas HS)
Madison Lockard, Goalkeeper (Oswego, Ill./Oswego HS)
Ali Martin, Defender (Medina, Ohio/Medina HS)
Juliana Rotolo, Midfielder/Forward (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson HS)
Amanda Shaw, Midfielder/Forward (Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS/Missouri)
Evie Stepaniak, Forward/Midfielder (Liberty Township, Ohio/Lakota West HS/Cincinnati State)
Molly Van Horn, Forward (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Bishop Hartley HS)
Ana Vera, Defender (Madrid, Spain/IES Alto Jarama)
His philosophy is that regardless of how old you are or how long you’ve been with the program, the player who is in the best form will play.
“One of our strengths is that we are not fixed into one particular system and we have the ability to change systems,” Roberts said. “We have players who have the ability and the athleticism to change from one system to another and not be stuck in one hole.”
It was seen last year that Roberts wants to include and even feature multiple freshmen on the roster. Ball State had three freshmen; forwards Sam Kambol and Julia Elvbo, and defender Yela Ziswiler, named to the MAC All-Freshman team. Roberts also looked to include midfielder Peighton Cook throughout the season during her freshman campaign.
“The returning players have an immense amount of experience under their belts and they will be able to lead the new players through some of the initial stages,” Roberts said. “But at the same time, the players that are coming in are going to be well experienced and very competitive so they are going to be respectful of who has gone on before them, but at the same time they are going to be competitive and compete for positions.”