Snow excited about new BC soccer players

BLUEFIELD, Va. — Several of the newcomers to the Bluefield College women’s soccer team this fall won’t have to travel far from home. They come from towns like Bastian and Honaker and Tazewell.

“We’ve got 13 new ones,” said second-year head coach Samantha Snow. The group includes a dozen freshmen and one transfer.

Coaches travel thousands of miles in their recruiting, but Snow believes she has found well-rounded players in the Old Dominion — and a few other places.

“It’s something I’d like to do every year,” Snow said. “Virginia is a strong state for women’s soccer to begin with. ... Coming up here, I pretty much planned on getting the Virginia players, and it worked out.”

“You find those gems from the area as well, so it’s really nice.”

Snow said, “We’ve got two kids coming from Honaker, one from Tazewell, one from Bland, and then the Roanoke and Virginia Beach area. It’s exciting.”

Jessi Peery of Bastian, a leader of the still-new Bland County Bears girls’ team, “played with the boys for a few years,” Snow said. “It’s those kind of players we’re finding. It’s different, but it’s good.”

Brittany Musick was reportedly the first girls’ soccer player at Honaker High School to sign to play collegiate soccer. Last week, teammate Kristen Slowey joined her in signing a letter of intent with the Christian school on the state border.

The most recent prospect, Snow said, is Tazewell’s Alex Gallagher, whose paperwork is still being processed. “That’ll be the last piece,” Snow predicted.

One of the new strikers is Kate Letherman from the Manassas, Va., area.

Snow said, “When she came in, she could strike with her right and left foot, she could finish from any angle that she wanted to. Seeing her play before, she’s a natural striker, she’s a goal-scorer, and that’s what we really needed. She’s one of the ones I’m really excited about.”

Taylor Stynes was captain and an all-district selection at Eastern View High School near Culpeper, Va. She played for the Storm travel team out of Charlottesville, and participated in the Olympic Development Program (ODP).

“She is another one that will be playing up top for us,” Snow said. “She’s a goal scorer, she can set ’em up, and she’s also good at getting them out of the air.”

“She’s one of those sneaky ones who can get in behind the defense and you don’t know where she came from.”

Peery as well, “can finish from pretty far out, right- and left-footed,” Snow said.

Courtney Bell, a forward, played at Camden High School in St. Mary’s, Ga.

Discussing the new crop of defenders, Snow began with Lacie Helms of Christiansburg.

Snow said that Helms “is really solid defensively, and isn’t afraid to get in there and tackle. Combined with her and one of our returners, they’re going to be pretty tough in the back. It’s going to be a solid defense.”

“She’s just very calm. She wins the ball well, and then instead of just getting nervous and kicking it out ... she finds our players’ feet, gets it to them and keeps us in a rhythm.”

“She’s just a very good determined player. ... I know she can get up in the attack and get some goals for us. That’s the kind of style that I like to play, when our defense can attack and set up the goals ... .”

“Whatever she puts her mind to, she does it, so I’m really happy to have her in the back.”

Goalkeeper Chelsea Hardy from Patrick County High School is expected to learn the college game this fall and get some minutes in front of the net.

“She’ll be good for us,” Snow said. “She’s a good student, obviously, and a really good kid. We need that depth in the goal. I like to have about three to four goalkeepers, because you never know what’s going to happen.”

“She’ll probably be getting some minutes, because she’s good at snagging the ball, she’s good with her ball-handling. She’s got few other areas to improve on, [but] that just comes from experience.”

Tori Doyle played forward and midfield at Cave Spring (Va.) High School near Roanoke. She was penciled in at center-midfielder but she “tore her ACL in one of her last high school games,” Snow said. She will be taking a medical redshirt year.

The one transfer among the incoming group is Ashley Marino from Las Vegas, who was at Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista last fall.

Snow said she was seeking skilled athletes at all positions, but her recruits needed to be well-rounded.

“I was looking for everybody,” she said. “It was the whole package, too — a good player, a good kid, a good student. They had to have all three for me to want to go after them.

“We are also emphasizing on skill, as well, because in the past, for most women’s teams, it’s been about athleticism. That was most of our players last year. We had pockets of skill here and there, but it was mostly athleticism.

“So, getting more players with skill in, was the big change that I wanted. And we got ’em.”

She added, “The majority of them have played club soccer. It’s a big difference ... .”

BC was 3-13-3 last season and winless in the Appalachian Athletic Conference.

Bluefield’s opponents this year include nine schools from NCAA Division II and III.

The regular season starts on Aug. 23 at Tusculum College in Tennessee. WVU–Tech will provide the opposition for BC’s home opener, on Aug. 29 at East River Soccer Complex. The Lady Rams play their homecoming game on Oct. 15 at 1 p.m. with Tennessee Temple visiting East River.

Looking ahead beyond this season, Snow said, “There are already about 20 girls on the radar for next year.”

— Contact Tom Bone at tbone@bdtonline.com

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