The Michigan Tech soccer team includes Bri Barrows, Molly Bolang, Allison Millina, Grace Hopper, Riley Winrich, Clara Murchison, Megan Antczak, Havanah Brockington, Olivia Gette, Marissa Wentland, Katelyn Sanders, Julia Pietila, Bella Vasoli, Amelia Gregory, Taylor Noble, Kiersen Korienek, Ella Roach, Avery McNally, Emilie Clayton, Jordan Noble, Clare Kowalczyk, Anna Syracuse, Brooke Green, Claire Sampson, Gabrielle Klein, Reilly Lovercheck, and Ludesha Reynolds. The Huskies are coached by Melissa Kuhar, Hunter Stoddard and Reece Scott. (Photo courtesy of Michigan Tech University)

HOUGHTON — After a very successful season that saw the Michigan Tech Huskies soccer team go 8-5-7, finish second in the GLIAC in the regular season, and earn an NCAA Tournament game, they lost their head coach, their top goal scorer, and a set of twins who were poised to get more playing time this season. However, with a new coach in Melissa Kuhar, and a pair of transfers inserted into the lineup, the Huskies are poised to make another run at the NCAA Tournament.

But first, Kuhar needs to get to know what her returning players are capable of. She was hired late in the process, so she has not really had much chance to see her players live yet.

“So (I’m) still, like, slowly meeting girls,” she said during an interview last week, before official practices began. “(I am) meeting them slowly. (I) feel more settled in, putting practice plans together and outlines of what we want to work on. So, it’s slowly getting to that place.

“I don’t think it will really hit me until they’re all here and we’re on a field, but it’s definitely a lot better than a few weeks ago. I feel a little more settled in to the area as well.”

She had spent multiple days finishing up her move into her coach’s office, and was already working on making it a comfortable space for players to visit. The next task on her list, finding a permanent assistant coach, did not go as planned, but she is adjusting on the fly. Hunter Stoddard remains as a graduate assistant, and Kuhar added Reece Scott to the staff as a graduate assistant as well, which helps.

Having Scott around is a positive, since she spent a significant amount of time on the field with the team as a fifth-year transfer last season.

“She’ll kind of come in, help do a lot of our video scouting, help at training,” Kuhar said.

Looking at the team Kuhar has to work with, there is a large chunk of last year’s group returning, which will make her job quite a bit easier. Where the Huskies are deepest is on the back end, where Molly Bolang returns for her fifth season, Grace Hoeppner is back as a junior, Ella Roach is a junior, and Emilie Clayton is a junior.

Up front, the Huskies will feature fifth-year midfielder Kiersen Korienek, seniors Jordan and Taylor Noble, senior forward Julia Pietila, sophomore forward Brooke Green, and sophomore midfielder Reilly Lovercheck.

“There’s such, like, that core (of) the team is still here, and so that’s exciting,” Kuhar said. “There is that core group back. We have to find some players that want to step up and score some goals, and really help us there. But, that core group is still around, and so I’m excited about that.”

Where things are not as familiar in goal, where keeper Grace Vanlangevelde has moved on after finishing her fifth year with the Huskies and winning Goalkeeper of the Year last season in the GLIAC. Juniors Bri Barrows and Ludesha Reynolds are in a position battle. Barrows has had to bide her time waiting for Vanlangevelde to graduate, while Reynolds has transferred to Michigan Tech from Mississippi Valley State, where she started five games last season.

“We’ll have big shoes to fill in terms of just like she (Vanlangevelde) won Goalkeeper of the Year,” said Kuhar. “There was something there. But, I think with the two we have on our roster right now, that position is very wide open for them to compete, and for them to battle for that spot. I’m excited to kind of see how that all shakes out.”

Given that keeper was her position when she was a player, Kuhar is fully invested in the battle.

“Goalkeepers have a special place in my heart,” she said. “They always will.

“I think it’s that you have to be vocal back there, a vocal leader, someone that kind of takes that ownership and has that presence and swagger about them. You have to be a little weird to play goalkeeper, a little strange to want to dive at the ground and throw your body at a soccer ball.”

In front of the keeper, Bolang and Hoeppner lead an experienced group that knows what is expected of them.

“Looking at stats, and previous video and stuff, our back line is probably our most experienced portion of our team,” Kuhar said. “(They are) the girls that have been here the longest, have played the most minutes, that have that game experience. So, to me, that gives me a peace of mind and a little ease.”

Bolang will serve as a team captain this season.

“She brings out leadership,” said Kuhar, “and the only thing I hear about her is that she’s a good player. She’s a good human being. So I think I’m excited to see her on the field and kind of help her to be a bigger leader.”

The Noble twins are both good players with the ball in their feet, and they will be counted on to help get it up the field quickly and with numbers.

“The Noble twins, they’re good people you want in our program,” said Kuhar. “I think for both of them, they’re players that when you ask them to do something, they’re going to do it. I think that is kind of what I want out of a player, someone that works hard, that grinds out a game, that puts their body on the line.”

When it comes to scoring goals, the first player that comes to mind for Kuhar is Clayton, a defender, who found a way to score three goals as a freshman from the back end.

“We have to have people step up, and (we) have Emilie Clayton in the back who was scoring goals as a defender,” Kuhar said. “So, hopefully she can keep doing that.”

Green, who scored three goals last year as a freshman, and Pietila, who has 11 in her career at the college level, will also be counted on to step in and take on some of the scoring burden.

“There’s people on this team that have the ability to do it, like a Brooke Green or a Julia, that can, if they just need almost that little push, and that it’s almost there, where they can put in a few goals,” said Kuhar. “I think the style of play I want is very creative, kind of. If mistakes are going to happen, that’s okay. Take chances, take risks, especially in that final part of the field.”

For Pietila, who is as responsible defensively as she offensively, scoring has been tougher in her second and third seasons in Black and Gold, as she has just four goals over the past two seasons, but Kuhar is confident she can find her scoring touch.

“I think soccer is a cruel game, right? A team alone can score a bunch of goals, a player can score a bunch of goals, and then, a month later, hit a drought,” said Kuhar. “I think, for me, take any actual soccer playing ability away, I think it’s just the confidence to do it. I think that’s something I’m going to stress to all of our attacking players. If you don’t shoot the ball, if you don’t take chances, if you don’t, go 1-v-1, you’re never going to score. So, just do it.”

With Green, Kuhar hopes that her best is yet to come.

“There’s that kind of, that untapped something, and I wouldn’t say potential,” she said. “But, it’s like, we haven’t hit her best.”

Kuhar stresses that younger players like Lovercheck will get opportunities throughout the season. She wants players to force their way into the lineup.

“I hope our younger players are the ones really pushing that competitive environment,” she said. “I hope some of them kind of break through, and again, for me, everyone’s on the same level in terms of where they are. You have to earn the spot. I’ll put the best 11 people out there that are going to make our team have the best chance to win.”

The Huskies open their season with a trio of non-conference games on the road at St. Cloud State, Minnesota-Duluth, and Northwood before opening the GLIAC season against Davenport at home on Friday, Sept. 20.

“There’s going to be bumps in the road,” Kuhar said. “There’s going to be little things we need to adjust over time. But, by the time we kind of hit that conference first weekend, that should be a pretty good time to be all kind of just bought in. We’re all on the same page.”

They will face traditional GLIAC powers Grand Valley State and Ferris State in home matches before seeing Northern Michigan on Sunday, Oct. 13.

The late season will see the Huskies face the Bulldogs a second time on Sunday Oct. 20, and also close out their season on the road with three straight games against Wisconsin-Parkside, Saginaw Valley State and Grand Valley State.

The Huskies won their first scrimmage of the season over Lewis on Wednesday, and return to action Friday with a scrimmage against Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 4 p.m. at Kearly Stadium in Houghton.