Brown Women's Soccer Season Preview
8/26/2021
Coach Kia McNeill on the New Season
The Brown women's soccer team kicks off its season this Friday, Aug. 27 at 1 p.m. at Hofstra. Head coach Kia McNeill enters her sixth season with the program as she and the rest of her staff will look to continue to build on the team’s recent success as the 2019 Ivy League Champions.
“I am really excited for this group,” McNeill said. “The growth and potential we have seen in less than two weeks of preseason has been tremendous. The talent, experience and depth we have this year is unlike any season in the past. We have a strong core returning from our successful 2019 season, and have bolstered the roster with some talented players in the freshman and sophomore classes.
"I think we are always going to be solid defensively with the way we defend as a team, but this year we have really raised the level in the attacking third as well. If we can execute individually and collectively on both ends of the field, I think we will be a tough team to beat. We can't wait to get the season started this Friday against a good Hofstra team.”
At the end of the 2019 campaign, McNeill was named the Ivy League Coach of the Year, the first such selection in program history. In addition, she was named the New England Soccer Journal Coach of the Year. Both honors were well-deserved after McNeil led the team to its first Ivy League title and NCAA Tournament appearance since 1994.
The entire coaching staff of McNeill, Matt Mones, Raleigh DeRose, and Andre Reis was named the East Region Staff of the Year in 2019. McNeill, Mones, and DeRose are all in their sixth year together, while the entire staff has been together for four years with Reis joining in 2018.
Key Returners
The Bears return a wealth of talent from their 2019 championship team, headlined by senior Kayla Thompson and junior Brittany Raphino.
Thompson finished 2019 with first team All-Region and All-Ivy League honors, and added a third team Scholar All-America nod for good measure. The Austin, Texas native posted a .44 goals against average and a .892 save percentage in 2019, marks that rank her third and tenth all-time in single-season program history.
Raphino was named Ivy League and ECAC Rookie of the Year in 2019, while also earning a spot on the All-Ivy League and All-Region first teams. The Randolph, Mass. native was also named to Top Drawer Soccer’s Freshman Best XI second team. Raphino’s eight goals and 19 points led the Bears, while she also chipped in three assists.
In addition to Thompson and Raphino, junior Ava Seelenfreund returns after a second team All-Ivy League selection in 2019. She was second on the team with 15 points from five goals and five assists. Other top returning scorers include Claire Myers (seven points), Rebecca Rosen (six points), third team All-Region selection Zoe Maxwell (four points), and Malina Yago (four points).
Fortunately for the Bears, they are also returning a lot of experience on their back line. Lauren Hinton and Cameron Brown, who both started all 19 games in 2019, are back, as is Rachyl Francisco who started 18 games.
New Faces
Bear fans will see some new faces on the field this season including Boston College transfer Kayla Duran. In 2018 with the Eagles, Duran was named to the ACC All-Freshman team as she started all 20 games on defense and scored one goal.
Including Duran, a total of 18 new Bears join the squad for the 2021 season. A nine-player freshman class and an eight-player sophomore class make up the new student-athletes that fans have not yet seen compete in a Brown uniform.
Home Field Dominance
During McNeill’s tenure, the Bears have been extremely difficult to beat on their home field. Since 2016, Brown is 28-8-5 at home, including an unbeaten 2019 when McNeill led them to an 11-0-1 mark. The lone tie came in the first round of the NCAA Tournament when the Bears took Monmouth to penalty kicks tied at zero. Brown would prevail in PKs 4-1.
To find the last time the Bears didn’t come out on the winning end of a home game, one would have to go all the way back to an Oct. 13, 2018 contest against Harvard. In that one, Brown got out to a 2-0 lead after 26 minutes, but the Crimson would come back in the second half to claim the 3-2 victory.
