LEBANON, Tenn.—The new season brings a new sense of goals as the Cumberland Women's Soccer program under the helm of fourth year head coach Scott Davidson has been built into a perennial Top 20 team.
The Phoenix have ended each of their last two seasons one win away from the NAIA National Championship final site. The Phoenix are hungry for more and ready with a veteran group to do just that.
Last season, CU made their fourth straight appearance at the NAIA National tournament finishing with a 13-5-1 record with seven shutouts.
Six players earned All-Mid-South Conference honors a year ago and they returned five from the bunch including two-time Mid-South Conference Defensive Player of the Year Grace Morris and two-time NAIA All-American Marie Bathe.
"I feel good about where we are moving forward. I feel we are stable in terms of just where we are as a program," head coach Scott Davidson said. Now it's a matter of bringing in the right players to take us to the next level which I feel like we've done this past spring and summer. We are excited about this group and we can't wait to get going."
Davidson spoke highly of how he thinks the offense will do this year, "As far as scoring goals, I think we will score more goals this year as I feel we have more firepower and creativity as well. We have a whole different dynamic this year." Davidson says that after last season's team finished ranked in the Top 20 of several offensive categories scoring 47 goals in 18 matches and finished with the 12th most assists in the NAIA.
Bathe will be at the forefront of the offensive attack. The two-time All-American scored six goals with a team-best 11 assists.
The Phoenix also return leading goal scorer Macy Douglas who contributed seven goals and six assists last season as well as Second Team All-Conference member Gabby Jones. Jones posted six goals on the season.
Cumberland adds a big piece to the offense with a transfer striker from Norway Mari Sagstad. The junior was named the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year at Cardinal Stritch last season scoring 17 goals with 12 assists. She was also an NAIA All-American Honorable Mention.
Brenna Swiger also returns as a versatile piece for the Phoenix. Her freshman season, Swiger played the back line while moving up in the field last year to score four goals. She earned Mid-South Conference Honorable Mention honors.
Fifth-year senior Brenda Cernas is back after battling injuries last season. Cernas has a knack for the clutch moment and will bring her experience and goal scoring ability into her final year.
Also returning for Cumberland is Hailey Burroughs while the Phoenix have added freshmen Ameila Edmunds and Alise Rahime.
Davidson is high on his defensive unit as well saying, "Our back line and defensive unit overall I feel is even better than last year," and the Phoenix had a pretty stout defensive play a year ago.
Cumberland last season posted seven shutouts while averaging just 1.22 goals allowed per game.
The back line is anchored by two-time Mid-South Conference Defensive Player of the Year Grace Morris. Morris helped lead the Phoenix in their efforts while contributing nine goals last season.
The Phoenix perhaps lost the most on the back line this year losing three-time Mid-South Conference Defensive Player of the Year Sarah Haddock and First Team All-Conference member Becca Campbell, but Davidson feels that this unit will work together to be better overall.
Cardinal Stritch transfer Celia Rodriguez will look to fill the gaps. Rodriguez was a First Team All-CCAC defender in 2022 and is expected to hold down the center with Morris.
Cumberland also returns Zoe Collyer, Lucia Mei, Taylor Bertotti, and Alivia Chambers who will each be vying for time this season on the outside.
The Phoenix added transfers Miku Kayama, Yuna Hazekawa, Isla Brown, and Sofia Echevarria to the midfield. Both Kayama and Hazekawa from Japan that Davidson feels fit well with their style of play. Echevarria is another transfer from Cardinal Stritch that has NAIA National Tournament experience adding depth. Brown comes to Cumberland after playing at Eastern Florida State.
Davidson says he will look to utilize junior Ella Tuplin further up the field this season. Tuplin has been a part of theback line playing right back the last two seasons, but her experience will help CU up the field to create scoring opportunities.
Ao Yamada, Evelyn Jimenez, and Mya McKenzie return at the position as well as freshman additions of Ali Cole and Kaylie Torrens.
At goalkeeper, the Phoenix return all three keepers from last season led by starter Sabrina Graziano. She has started each of the last two seasons making 124 saves with a goals allowed average of 1.17. Savanna Stubbs is also back as a senior. Stubbs started in 2021 for the Phoenix. Also returning is sophomore Celia Martin.
"Overall we are a lot deeper than we have ever been. We have a great squad of 27 players and we feel all 27 players can play and that is a fantastic feeling to have."
"Going into this we have had a lot of competition for positions and we have got a few players that can play every position. I feel like we are really in a good place to build and move forward and put ourselves in a position to go to the National Tournament again."
The Phoenix open up play this week on the road at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas and will play in-state opponent Bryan College in Dayton on Saturday.
