ICC women’s soccer looks to build on last season’s success

FULTON, Miss. – In 2023, the Itawamba Community College women's soccer team rewrote the program's history with accomplishments such as setting the mark for the best start to a season that included most team goals (79) and went 14-9 overall and 6-5 in MACCC play. This season, the Lady Indians look to build on that success.

Excitement Building During Preseason

The program is wrapping up its final two weeks of preseason, and head coach David Strother says "it's been an amazing journey."

"So far, the team has been responding well to Coach Ugo [Galtier] and myself and how we're pushing them," Strother said. "We're setting some really good expectations for what we want to accomplish as the season gets going, so we're excited about the upcoming season."

The Lady Indians will play their lone preseason match Friday, August 16, at 3 p.m. against Freed-Hardeman at the ICC Soccer Complex on the Fulton Campus.

Key Returners

The Lady Indians return their top two scorers in Vanessa Baugatz (Berlin, Germany) and Lauren Sharples (Liverpool, England). Katelyn El-Beck and Liz McElveen (both of Olive Branch), Gracie Henley (Pontotoc), Julianna Motes (Fulton), Liv Norris (Hernando) and Addy Stanford (Tupelo) are expected to build on last season's success this year.

"We have a full roster this year, 22 players, with eight of those being returners," Strother said. "So we're excited about how we finished being a nationally ranked program at the end of last season, hopefully going into this season with a preseason top-20 ranking, and just seeing where we go from that."

Important Newcomers

Strother added 14 new players this season. Annabelle Holman (Amory); Cooper Pletzke, Suzi Page Vaughan (both of Clinton); Chloe Boyd (Columbus); Kylee King (Fulton); Annie Mansel (Hernando); Isabella Moore, Ana-Marie Teal (both of Olive Branch); Madelyn Ahmed (Oxford); Riley Stringer (Pearl); Kyla Kate Huffman (Pelahatchie); Madelyn Davis (Stonewall), Isobel Kinsella (Gloucestershire, UK) and Millie Webb (Rugby, England) are all expected to contribute to the Lady Indians' success in 2024.

Schedule Breakdown

The Lady Indians will host seven home matches this season, including six MACCC matchups against East Mississippi (Sept. 20 at 2 p.m.), Holmes (Sept. 24 at 2 p.m.), Mississippi Gulf Coast (Oct. 4 at 1 p.m.), Jones (Oct. 11 at 1 p.m.), Southwest (Oct. 15 at 1 p.m.) and East Central (Oct. 22 at 1 p.m.). Conference road matches include Meridian (Sept. 17 at 5 p.m.), Copiah-Lincoln (Sept. 27 at 1 p.m.), Northwest (Oct. 8 at 5 p.m.), Hinds (Oct. 25 at 5 p.m.) and Pearl River (Oct. 29 at 5 p.m.). All home matches are scheduled to be streamed on LetsGoICCTV.com – weather permitting.