PREVIEW: Women’s soccer team ‘capable of being in the conversation’ for conference title

PREVIEW: Women’s soccer team ‘capable of being in the conversation’ for conference title

Last season for the Lipscomb women’s soccer team, everything was in place for another ASUN conference championship–until it wasn’t. The top-seeded Bisons went into the conference tournament last April needing just three wins to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year. Instead, they lost at the first time of asking to league-bottom Liberty and saw their season cut short. This year, though, longtime head coach Kevin O’Brien’s squad looks more primed than ever for an NCAA appearance. An already experienced team returns most of its key contributors from last year, and that alone makes the Bisons formidable once again in 2021. Couple that with an ASUN Preseason joint-top ranking and four players on the Preseason All-Conference list, and the expectations become sky-high for Lipscomb’s women’s soccer program. Luckily, there’s more than enough quality in the squad to live up to those expectations. Coach O’Brien’s Bisons bring back nearly all of last year’s starters, with the notable exceptions of long-serving goalkeeper Melissa Gray and starting defenders Audrey Ann Beck and Kaitlin Echols. Gray spent five years with the program and started for the past two seasons, but her successors are equally capable. Our prediction for who puts on the gloves is redshirt sophomore CJ Graham, but the Swannanoa, N.C. native has strong competition from redshirt freshman Sydney Jones of Castle Pines, Colo. In his ever-honest way, Coach O’Brien let on that even he was unsure of who would end up starting the season at goalkeeper. “I told them early on, ‘Hey, this is the one position in our team that there’s a bit of a question mark.’...

Lady Bison soccer team comes up short on senior night

Senior night for the Lipscomb women’s soccer team did not go as planned as they were shut out by Northern Kentucky Friday. Lipscomb attempted more than twice as many shots as NKU, but in the end had nothing to show for it, resulting in a 2-0 loss. Prior to the game, the Lady Bisons honored their three seniors: Karli Crosby, Baylee Linnell and Brittany Rupple. With conference tournament implications on the line, the stakes were very high. NKU’s Aubrey Muench opened the score in the 30th minute to give the Norse a 1-0 lead, then scored again in the 49th minute to seal the win. The Purple and Gold finish the regular season with a 10-6-2 record overall and 4-2-1 in conference. As it stands now, the Lady Bisons will likely head into the Atlantic Sun Tournament as the No. 2 seed, and will have a first round bye before taking on the winner between the No. 3 seed Jacksonville and No. 6 seed Kennesaw State. The two weekend, single-elimination tournament begins next Saturday, Nov. 1, and will conclude Sunday, Nov. 9 at Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Meyers, Fla. For more information about the 2014 Atlantic Sun Women’s Soccer Championship, visit atlanticsun.org/sports.wsoc or go...