Many of the questions were looming for the LSU soccer team when spring workouts began.
After a successful spring season, where the Tigers went 9-0-4, some of the outstanding questions have been answered.
For example, who would replace the senior leadership in the back with defenders and co-captains Ashley Mitnick and Leigh McGovern both graduating.
The early returns are good for Mitnick’s sister, Tara, who Fotopoulos has moved to sweeper this spring to replace McGovern. Fotopoulos said Mitnick should be fine in the role after the “All-American” type season the younger Mitnick had in 2002.
“It was a good spring for us,” he said. “With the departure of Heintz, Mitnick, [midfielder Melissa] Shelton and McGovern, we were concerned about leadership. I was very pleased [with the spring]. It gave us a good starting point for the fall.”
Another question would be how to replace Mandy Heintz’s 23 goals. Heintz is giving up her final year of eligibility.
Fotopoulos said he was pretty impressed with the play of his forwards this spring. He will be moving senior Rachel Cohen from midfielder to forward, a position she played during her freshman season.
“She’s going to move back to forward,” Fotopoulos said. “We feel really good about it. She’s going to make an impact for us there. Rachel Cohen was probably the biggest surprise. She was probably our best player all spring.”
He also said athletic forward junior Artie Brown continues to improve and should give the Tigers another scoring threat.
Fotopoulos said the emphasis of this spring session was to play club teams with explosive and youthful players. However, the Tigers beat teams like Stetson University on the road and downed Tulane and University of Louisiana-Lafayette as part of the two spring tournaments LSU hosted.
In addition to a solid spring, LSU rounded up a solid recruiting class, according to Fotopoulos.
Highlighting the recruiting class is McKinley High School senior midfielder Ashleigh Gunning and Land O’Lakes, Fla., forward Stacy Bishop.
“I feel that this is the best class on paper [since I’ve been here at LSU],” Fotopoulos said. “I’m so excited. We got people from everywhere, and we got the best player in Louisiana.”
Others in the recruiting class include defender Christina Best from Littleton, Colo., midfielder Michelle De Cespedes from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., midfielder Stephanie Ford from Parkview High School, defender Jordan Parker from Houston, forward Joleen Phillips from Indianapolis and goalkeeper Heather Zurburg from Gainesville, Fla.
“All recruits we got have positive qualities,” Fotopoulos said. “You still have to rely on the players coming back though.”