BEREA, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University women's soccer team led by seventh-year head coach Jim Wojtkun is ready to kick off the 2023 campaign.
Coach Wojtkun returns eighteen letterwinners, two All-Ohio Athletic Conference players and ten Academic All-OAC selections from last year's OAC tournament qualifying team that posted an overall record of 9-9-1 and a 4-4-1 record in conference play. The Yellow Jackets were selected to finish fifth this year in the 2023 OAC Coaches' Preseason Poll.
Among BW's returning playmakers is junior forward Sydney Rice (North Royalton). Rice, a 2022 All-OAC second-team selection, appeared in all 19 games for the Yellow Jackets and made 18 starts as she led the team in scoring with 11 goals and 24 points. She led the OAC with 103 shots last year and currently sits at seventh place on Baldwin Wallace's all-time goal scoring list with 29. Rice was also selected to the OAC All-Tournament Team and the Ohio Collegiate Soccer Association All-Ohio second team.
Despite losing two prominent scorers from last season, sophomore forward Sydni Mudge (Birch Run, Mich.) and junior Academic All-OAC forward Natalie Stewart (Blacklick/Gahanna Lincoln) will be on the attack again this year. Mudge comes off a season in which she scored 2 goals in 19 appearances while Stewart recorded one goal in her 15 starts and 19 total appearances for the 2022 squad.
The experienced midfield is highlighted by a trio of Academic All-OAC selections in senior Jillian Neal (Fairlawn/Copley), senior Alissa Scattino (Girard/Warren John F. Kennedy), and junior Hailey Schwade (Lewis Center/Olentangy Orange).
Neal started in 17 games and appeared in all 19 scoring one goal and two points in 2022.
Scattino appeared in 14 games and scored one goal in her junior season.
Schwade started in 11 of her 16 appearances last year and recorded one assist.
The defense is led by junior Ella Barth (Highland/Mayfield) who was an All-OAC third-team selection and Academic All-OAC honoree last year. She tallied 3 goals, 2 assists, and 8 points in 14 games with 13 starts. Also returning as starters on the defensive side are senior Paige Ackerman (Sandusky/St. Mary Central Catholic) and sophomore Karli Barringer (Blacklick/Columbus Bishop Hartley).
Junior Academic All-OAC selection Katie Scott (Lewis Center/Olentangy) headlines the BW goalkeepers as she recorded 91 saves and three shutouts on her way to a 6-9-1 record a year ago. Scott ranked fourth in saves among all OAC goalies last season.
The Yellow Jackets open the 2023 season at the Herb Lauffer Memorial Tournament in Erie, Pa. on September 2 and 3 against Penn State-Beherend and Fredonia (N.Y.). BW will host Oberlin College on Tuesday, September 5 for the 2023 home opener.
