SARASOTA, Fla. - New College's women's soccer team is diving headfirst into the preseason as they prepare for their inaugural season in the Sun Conference. 

The Banyans enter their second year as a program with a completely revamped roster, adding players across all position groups. The one thing that remains the same is the return of head coach Debbie Pekel, who is confident that this fresh group of players will help their team build upon last year's 4-8-2 finish. 

"We have a good enough squad to be able to compete with the top end of the conference. I know that we should be able to get good results from some teams from the bottom half." 

That confidence is backed up by a significantly improved roster but with players from all across the world, Pekel bringing in additions from Brazil, Germany, Columbia, Canada, Scotland, and various parts of the US. 

"I think we just have a really strong group of young women that enjoy the opportunity to be here." Commented Pekel when speaking on the young roster. "They are really sold on what we are building here and very intentional with giving everything they have… So far it's been really exciting just how well they've meshed together as a team so early on. And I think that's going to help us be successful on the field."

Last week's rigorous week of practice was capped off by an intersquad scrimmage, allowing the players to apply what they've learned in practice while giving the coaches an opportunity to see where the team's strengths and weaknesses lie. When asked about those strengths, coach Pekel had a few things to highlight, "We do have a lot of technical midfielders, some technical players that will help us play our style, which is keeping possession. We also have some exciting players that will help us finish."

With the desire to maintain possession comes the hope that ball control will make a difference on the scoreboard. "We're excited about what things look like for us this year, being able to produce more scoring opportunities and hopefully more goals." 

The Banyans' Sun Conference opener will be a trial by fire for the young group as they face off against Keiser University, a unit that finished their 2023 campaign with a 8-4-2 record and a conference tournament berth. Until then, the team will prepare for their regular season opener against Florida College on August 22nd.