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Thursday, August 22
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Women’s Soccer Begins 2019 with a Pair of Matches in Michigan
8/21/2019 4:21:00 PM | Women's Soccer
Long announces addition of Novik to the roster
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall women's soccer is set to kick off the 2019 season with a pair of matches in Michigan. The season opener is scheduled for Aug. 22 in Ann Arbor against the Michigan Wolverines, while the Herd will close out the opening weekend in East Lansing against the Michigan State Spartans on Aug. 25.
"Tomorrow night we start our 2019 season off with a very strong Michigan team," head coach Kevin Long said as he prepares for his 12th season at the helm of the Thundering Herd women's soccer program. "We have spent the spring and preseason changing how we take the field, and changing how we as a team wanted to impact our games. The players have worked extremely hard both on and off the field and I look forward to seeing that hard work pay off, starting with Michigan."
Marshall finished last season 5-11-1 with a 3-6-1 record in Conference USA action. The Thundering Herd returns 20 players to the 2019 roster, including leading scores Farah and Marah Abu-Tayeh. The Abu-Tayeh twins tied for the team lead in points with 17 each as Farah had a team-leading five assists and Marah led the Herd with eight goals, three of which were game winners. Marah was a named second-team all-conference after last season and was named to the C-USA Preseason team for this year.
"This is probably our deepest roster we have had as we have several options at multiple positions that as needed will elevate and raise our level of play throughout games, as it already has throughout preseason," Long said about his roster. "We already have seen great impact from our youth players, and I look forward to several newcomers making their impact in games throughout the season."
Long and assistant coach Erika Duncan, who is entering her seventh season on the coaching staff, brought in 10 freshmen through its initial recruiting class, but added Iselin Novik to the 2019 recruiting class in August.
"We are very excited about Iselin coming in," Long said. "She is a late addition from Norway who will bring speed and great technical ability anywhere on the field. She is extremely versatile and is fitting in very well with the team. We will mostly be looking for her to impact us from the flank, but is proving to be impacting on the ball anywhere on the field."
Novik, a native of Oslo, Norway, is a midfielder/striker who lived in Beavercreek, Ohio, from 2010 through 2014. While living in the states, Noevik played for Metro FC and Celtics, while playing for Hvam, Team Nes, Ullkisa and Kongsvinger in Norway.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Michigan finished last season with a 9-9-1 record, while going 5-5-1 in conference play to qualify for the Big Ten conference tournament where they were defeated by No. 16 Penn State in the opening round. The Wolverines were tabbed to finish fifth in their conference's preseason poll and had three named to the Big Ten Preseason Honor's List with Hillary Beall, Nicki Hernandez and Sarah Stratigakis. Hernandez and Stratigakis led Michigan with 22 and 17 points, respectively, during the 2018 campaign.
Michigan State will begin its season on Aug. 22 at home against Utah Valley, before hosting the Herd on Sunday. The Spartans finished 2018 with a 5-10-3 record while going 0-9-2 in the Big Ten. MSU was picked to finish last in its conference preseason poll. Camryn Evans returns to East Lansing for her sophomore campaign after leading the squad with seven goals and 14 points as a freshman in 2018.
For all the latest information about Marshall women's soccer, follow @HerdWSoccer on Twitter.
#HerdFamily
"Tomorrow night we start our 2019 season off with a very strong Michigan team," head coach Kevin Long said as he prepares for his 12th season at the helm of the Thundering Herd women's soccer program. "We have spent the spring and preseason changing how we take the field, and changing how we as a team wanted to impact our games. The players have worked extremely hard both on and off the field and I look forward to seeing that hard work pay off, starting with Michigan."
Marshall finished last season 5-11-1 with a 3-6-1 record in Conference USA action. The Thundering Herd returns 20 players to the 2019 roster, including leading scores Farah and Marah Abu-Tayeh. The Abu-Tayeh twins tied for the team lead in points with 17 each as Farah had a team-leading five assists and Marah led the Herd with eight goals, three of which were game winners. Marah was a named second-team all-conference after last season and was named to the C-USA Preseason team for this year.
"This is probably our deepest roster we have had as we have several options at multiple positions that as needed will elevate and raise our level of play throughout games, as it already has throughout preseason," Long said about his roster. "We already have seen great impact from our youth players, and I look forward to several newcomers making their impact in games throughout the season."
Long and assistant coach Erika Duncan, who is entering her seventh season on the coaching staff, brought in 10 freshmen through its initial recruiting class, but added Iselin Novik to the 2019 recruiting class in August.
"We are very excited about Iselin coming in," Long said. "She is a late addition from Norway who will bring speed and great technical ability anywhere on the field. She is extremely versatile and is fitting in very well with the team. We will mostly be looking for her to impact us from the flank, but is proving to be impacting on the ball anywhere on the field."
Novik, a native of Oslo, Norway, is a midfielder/striker who lived in Beavercreek, Ohio, from 2010 through 2014. While living in the states, Noevik played for Metro FC and Celtics, while playing for Hvam, Team Nes, Ullkisa and Kongsvinger in Norway.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Michigan finished last season with a 9-9-1 record, while going 5-5-1 in conference play to qualify for the Big Ten conference tournament where they were defeated by No. 16 Penn State in the opening round. The Wolverines were tabbed to finish fifth in their conference's preseason poll and had three named to the Big Ten Preseason Honor's List with Hillary Beall, Nicki Hernandez and Sarah Stratigakis. Hernandez and Stratigakis led Michigan with 22 and 17 points, respectively, during the 2018 campaign.
Michigan State will begin its season on Aug. 22 at home against Utah Valley, before hosting the Herd on Sunday. The Spartans finished 2018 with a 5-10-3 record while going 0-9-2 in the Big Ten. MSU was picked to finish last in its conference preseason poll. Camryn Evans returns to East Lansing for her sophomore campaign after leading the squad with seven goals and 14 points as a freshman in 2018.
For all the latest information about Marshall women's soccer, follow @HerdWSoccer on Twitter.
#HerdFamily
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