CHICAGO – Roosevelt women's soccer's youth and inexperience last season has been replaced this year by a confident, young squad that is loaded with experience around the field.

Last year's freshmen and sophomores soaked up all that experience and have taken the lessons into this coming season, the Lakers' first as a Division II program. The new era begins Thursday at 5 p.m. when Roosevelt travels to Romeoville to face Lewis before returning to Morris Field on Sunday for the home opener against former conference rival Saint Xavier at noon.



As to be expected, the Lakers were picked to finish ninth in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's preseason coaches' poll, but that only fuels the underdog mentality flowing through the squad. Although the team is mostly still on the younger side, there is still plenty of experience returning. Seven of the nine players who played at least 950 minutes last year are back, four of whom were freshmen last season.

At the top of that list is the defensive trio of Peyton Connelly, Alex Creel and Becca Simpkins, all sophomores who will be charged with protecting the Lakers goal. Connelly has become a more vocal leader on the back line over the past year and will anchor the defense in the middle alongside Youngstown State transfer Cheech Seuberling. Simpkins was a forward converted to defender last season and she has only grown in confidence as she explores the wing for the Lakers while Creel has found a home as the other wing back.

The back four will be playing in front of the most experienced position group on the team, the goalkeepers. Over the past three seasons just 8 minutes and 34 seconds of game time did not feature either Gaby Aguinaga-Hernandez or Roxana Herrera in goal for the Lakers. Herrera is a junior who stopped more than 75 percent of the shots she faced last season and kept three clean sheets in 13 starts. Hernandez is entering her fourth year on the roster and made 18 starts back in 2021 with a 1.41 goals against average with seven shutouts.

Roosevelt should have plenty of experience as well in the midfield led by senior Paola Macias and junior Mayte Gongora. They will be charged with helping out freshman Bella Perry in the middle of the field along with sophomore Brenna Rohloff. Daisy Hernandez-Loya enters the midfield as the main playmaker as well after leading the Lakers with five goals last season. The Illinois State transfer will be playing a more central role in the Roosevelt attack, helping to distribute the ball and be more involved than she was at forward.

Leading the attack is veteran Kelsey Johnson and sophomore Kyra Cruickshank, both of whom shined at moments last season. However, the two veterans will be complemented by the freshman duo of Cami Butler and Aaliyah Leanos, both of whom arrive after highly-successful club and prep careers. The Lakers are hoping to improve upon their 1.38 goals per game last season to complement a hopeful reduction in the 1.63 goals per match they allowed.