First-year Orange coach Jo Bondra is confident her team has the potential to compete for a conference title and a deep postseason run.
Bondra, who served as an assistant coach for the Lions the past couple of seasons, returns six starters and 12 other letter-winners to her lineup.
“We have a ton of potential on this team,” Bondra said. “Once they get on the field and start building more chemistry, we are excited to see what they can do.”
The Lions must replace two defenders and two midfielders, but several freshmen have had promising starts to their careers and Bondra is confident they’ll rise to the challenge.
“We have a few freshmen who have stepped up this offseason and this has allowed us to make changes necessary to fill these gaps,” she said.
Bondra is working to instill the right mindset in her players as they’ll need to be ready for a grueling schedule and an aggressive style of play.
“We have to play quick and we have to outwork our opponents,” Bondra said. “Our conference games are always tough, so we have to go in aggressive and confident. To minimize weaknesses, we have done a lot of conditioning this preseason. We are hoping to make up our weaknesses by being able to run with or more than our opponents.”
Bondra will lean on seniors Bailey Wallinsky and Cam Zucker and sophomore Dora Russo to set the tone for their teammates.
Wallinsky and Zucker are forwards while Russo plays defense.
“Bailey has been the hardest worker in the program since she was a freshman. She does all of the things that a coach looks for and more. We are looking forward to seeing what she can accomplish her senior year,” Bondra said. “Cam has a high soccer IQ and pairing her in the middle with Bailey should help the team be successful this season. Dora has come a long way since last year. Her making runs out of the back will be a crucial piece to our success this season.”
