True, the loss of All-Everything Emily Stauffer and the rest of her talented class will leave some holes to fill, but Wheaton is confident the answers to the questions left by the departure of the Class of ’99 can be found within the group that forms this year’s roster.

Goalkeeper
Lost: Anne Browning (0.99 GAA, .814 Sv%); Jennifer Burney (0.42 GAA, .895 Sv%); Meredith Bagley (1.38 GAA, .857 Sv%). Returning: Robyn Scatena (0 GP). Newcomers: Cheryl Gunther

The loss of Burney and Bagley to graduation and the decision of Browning to focus on crew (where she has been elected captain after two seasons of rowing in the national-qualifying first boat) for her senior year finds the Crimson in the unfortunate situation where neither goalie on staff has played a single minute of a collegiate varsity contest. Sophomore Robyn Scatena and first-year Cheryl Gunther both come in with impressive scholastic and club accolades, and will compete for the starting nod from the first day of camp. Scatena was stuck behind an upperclass-laden goalie staff as a freshman, and was unable to crack the rotation. Both she and Gunther are big, strong keepers who will have an opportunity to play right away and will be eager to prove their worth.

Defense
Lost: Jaime Chu (0-3-3); Ashley Marynick (0-0-0); Brynne Zuccaro (0-0-0); Returning: Jessica Larson (Sr., 0-0-0); Gina Foster (Sr., 4-1-9); Lauren Corkery (Jr., 1-1-3); Melissa Crandall (Jr., 0-0-0); Out for Season: Brooke McCarthy (Jr., 0-0-0); Newcomers: Lily Corrigan, Katie Urbanic

As always, the defense will be a strength of the squad. Anchored by co-captain and three-year starter Jessica Larson, the Crimson can certainly look to another strong performance. Larson is a three-time All-Ivy selection and was a regional All-American a year ago. As one of the finest sweepers in the Ivy League, she is a prime candidate to garner All-Ivy honors for the fourth time this fall. Joining her in the back is junior Lauren Corkery and senior Gina Foster. Corkery became a full-time starter in her sophomore season, has proven to be a reliable, strong defender, and will once again get a starting nod. She tallied a goal and an assist last season, her goal coming in the 86th minute to gain a tie with cross-town rival Boston University. Corkery and Larson both started all 18 games last season, which finds the Crimson defense in sound shape with both returning to the lineup.

Bolstering the backfield corps is Foster, who is one of the most versatile players on the team. Equally adept at playing up front as she is playing in the back, she netted four goals and an assist pulling this double duty last season. The graduation of Chu, a first-team All-Ivy pick a year ago, leaves a big hole in the defensive corps; this will find Foster focusing her effort in that area early in the season. Foster started 13 of the 14 games in which she appeared in 1998, (missing four due to injury), and still earned a Honorable Mention All-Ivy nod after being a unanimous first team choice as a sophomore. Coming into camp healthy, she will round out an already-strong backfield unit and make it one of the toughest to crack in the conference.

Junior Melissa Crandall will challenge for time back here, as will newcomers Lily Corrigan and Katie Urbanic. Junior Brooke McCarthy, who was poised to make a run at more playing time herself, suffered an ACL tear in late July and will be out for the season. Crandall has worked hard since being brought up from the JV squad, and hopes that it will translate into more field time as a junior. Urbanic was the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Minnesota, and Corrigan is a big (6-0) defender whocan also play midfield. Both will try to crack the lineup and push for more playing time as the season wears on.

Midfield
Lost: Emily Stauffer (5-11-21); Devon Bingham (1-2-4); Returning: Ashley Berman (Sr., 4-5-13); Meredith Stewart (Jr., 1-1-3); Julia Blain (Sr., 1-1-3); Jenine Ghani (So., 0-1-1); Robin Lockwood (So., 0-0-0); Out for Season: Heather Gotha (So., 0-0-0); Rachel Hoffman (So., 0-0-0); Newcomers: Amy Cooper, Lily Corrigan, Orly Ripmaster, Bryce Weed

By some standards, losing just two midfielders isn’t bad. However, when the two are 1998 co-captains Emily Stauffer and Devon Bingham, they become huge shoes to fill. The trio of Ashley Berman, Meredith Stewart, and Julia Blain will certainly do their part to continue the strong midfield play. Berman is the squad’s top returning scorer, putting four goals and five assists on the board last season. She garnered Honorable Mention All-Ivy honors last fall, and will be a candidate for post-season awards again this fall. Stewart missed one game due to injury last season, and earned starts in three contests. She has an opportunity to earn a full-time starting role as a junior, and will be looking to add to her totals of a goal and an assist from last season. Blain, a senior, will also be vying for a starting nod this year. She played in 16 games last season, missing two early-season contests due to illness. She is one of the most technically skilled players on the roster, and will look for increased playing time to showcase those attributes.

Also in the running for increased playing time are sophomores Jenine Ghani and Robin Lockwood. Ghani saw action in nine contests last season, but was limited by injuries that forced her to miss nine games. She did record one assist, but will look to add to that in her second varsity campaign. Lockwood got into two games last season, and will certainly push for more playing time this season.

Heather Gotha and Rachel Hoffman are both lost for the season with injuries-- Gotha with a knee injury sustained during lacrosse season in the spring, and Hoffman with a shoulder that required off-season surgery.

Lily Corrigan, Amy Cooper, Orly Ripmaster, and Bryce Weed will also be looking to break into the lineup as first-year players. The versatility of Corrigan (who will also play defense) and Cooper (who has also played sweeper and striker) will give them plenty of opportunities to prove themselves and gain more playing time. Ripmaster and Weed both come in with impressive accolades for both high school and club team play, and all four will certainly factor into the Crimson gameplan.

Forwards
Lost: Naomi Miller (7-6-20); Returning: Beth Zotter (Sr., 5-2-12); Colleen Moore (So., 1-3-5); Caitlin Costello (So., 0-0-0); Erin Aeschliman (So., 4-1-9 in ’97); Ashley Mattison (Jr., 0-0-0); Meghan O’Brien (So., 0-0-0); Newcomers: Caitlin Butler, Beth Totman, Joey Yenne

If the Crimson’s goal production is going to pick up this season after a quasi-lull in 1998 (30 goals in 18 games), this group will be the one at the front of the line to get it done. The loss of 1996 Ivy Player of the Year Naomi Miller is not something to be taken lightly, but senior co-captain Beth Zotter headlines a group that is a comfortable mix of youth and experience. Zotter ranks second among returnees in scoring, and placed second on the team a year ago in goals scored, netting five and adding two assists for 12 points. She will look to close the book on her collegiate career on a high note, and will undoubtedly figure prominently in shaping the fortunes of the offensive output. Fullback Gina Foster will possibly see some time up front, but will focus her attention on defense early in the season. Foster likes to come up out of the back and jump in on the offensive action, and should be considered a scoring threat at either position. Sophomore Colleen Moore earned a starting role midway through her freshman campaign, starting nine of the 16 games in which she appeared. Moore scored a goal and added three assists in 1998, totals on which she would love to increase in her sophomore campaign.

Sophomore Erin Aeschliman took the 1998-99 academic year off from both athletics and academics, and will look to pick up where she left off at the completion of her freshman campaign. She began that season on the JV, but was moved up to varsity and finished the year with four goals and an assist for nine points. She has a flair for the big goal, as she recorded both tallies in a 2-0 victory over UMass in the first round of the 1997 NCAA Tournament before assisting on Miller’s triple-overtime game-winner in the next round against George Mason to catapult the Crimson into the national quarterfinals against North Carolina. Despite a season sabbatical, Aeschliman should be able to step in and make an immediate contribution.

Sophomores Meghan O’Brien and Caitlin Costello will both be looking for increased playing time as they commence their second year. Each appeared in two games as freshmen, and Costello suffered a knee injury midseason that she spent the winter and spring rehabbing.

Freshmen vying for playing time are Caitlin Butler, Beth Totman, and Joey Yenne. Butler and Totman earned similar scholastic accolades at their respective high schools: four-year starters on teams that won three state titles, high school All-Americans, and NSCAA/Adidas State Players of the Year (Butler for Massachusetts, Totman for New York). Add Yenne to that group, who ranks fifth in the national high school annals for goals in a season (she recorded an unbelievable 71 in 18 games as a sophomore in 1996), and you will find a trio that brings a potent element to the Crimson offense.

The Schedule
Wheaton has again formulated a schedule that will consistently test the squad throughout the season. The Ivy League ranks second only to the Atlantic Coast Conference in the ratings percentage index, which attests to the year-in, year-out challenge to win the Ancient Eight crown. Last season, the League sent two representatives to the NCAA Tournament (Harvard and Dartmouth), and two more to the ECAC Championships (Columbia and Yale).

In addition to the challenging conference schedule, Harvard has assembled a non-conference slate that features three non-league opponents found in the preseason top-20. Brigham Young University makes its first-ever appearance on Ohiri Field for the Harvard Invitational, while the Crimson will host Hartford (a team that defeated Harvard twice last season) in late September in Cambridge. Perennial opponent Connecticut again appears on the schedule, with the Crimson making the trip to Storrs for a late-October matchup.

Harvard will participate in two tournaments in addition to its own. The Crimson will take on Texas Christian and Alabama-Birmingham at the University of Massachusetts Tournament to kick off the season, and will travel to southern Florida for the University of Miami Tournament, where the squad will play Butler in addition to the host school.

Full schedule here.