BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, NY - The St. Francis Brooklyn women's soccer team is set to begin its fourth season in program history on Thursday afternoon as the Terriers take on Canisius.
The Terriers enter the season with its highest place in the Northeast Conference (NEC) preseason poll yet, earning a seventh place ranking from the conference coaches.
Six of the ten Terriers with the most starts during the 2021 season return for the 2022 season, led in that category by starting goalkeeper Klil Keshwar and defender Hannah Russell.
Keshwar will bring a summer of new experience to her fourth season in Brooklyn after making the senior team for her home nation of Trinidad & Tobago during the 2022 CONCACAF Women's Championship. She will look to build on her 2021 collegiate season which finished with her sitting second in the conference with a .810 save percentage.
With four of the team's top five goal scorers set to take the pitch again, Barbara Zagonyi leads the way with four goals in 2021 and returns after graduating with a degree in Psychology.
The team elected two captains, both defenders, for the 2022 campaign: sophomore Alina Graf and graduate student Brianna Van Giesen. Both appeared in at least games last season and have found their voice as leaders on this Terrier team.
Van Giesen is one of 10 "originals" on the current roster; those that have been with the program since its inaugural season in 2019. She, along with Keshwar, Margaret (Maggie) Motolese, Izzy Golette, Trystan Cotterell, Oormi Sivapatham, Hannah Russell, Jamie-Lyn Shimamoto, Breanna Gleissner and Maya Madjercic will kick off their fourth season under head coach Justine Lombardi on Thursday.
Coach Lombardi added seven new student-athletes ahead of the season. Two of the newest Terriers are transfers: Chloe Brock coming in from George Fox after originally being recruited by Lombardi ahead of the team's inaugural season, and KT Maciejewski joins from Toledo after three seasons.
Three of the rookie Terriers join their sisters at St. Francis. Twins Olivia and Sophia Motolese join their sister Maggie for her fourth season. First-year defender Natalie Beasley joins her sister, women's volleyball team member Lena, in Brooklyn.
Angelina Briggs and Samantha Kipperman help to bolster the defense with Angelina Sayago representing Long Island in the attack.
St. Francis opens the season on Aug. 18 with the program's first trip to Buffalo to face Canisius. The Terriers host UNH for the first time on Aug. 21 for the team's home opener at Pier Five in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The Sunday match kicks off a three-game homestand with matches against Hartford (Aug. 25) and Iona (Aug. 28). The team opens NEC play on Sept. 15 against Merrimack and the home conference opener is set for Sept. 29 against Central Connecticut State. The full schedule can be viewed here.
Thursday's season opener will kick off at 4:00 p.m. in Buffalo and will air live on ESPN+.
Follow along with the Terriers all season on Twitter and Instagram!
