‘It’s an expectation:’ Rowan women’s and men’s soccer teams will compete in the NCAA Division III tournament
Profs women's coach Scott Leacott and Scott Baker, who leads the men’s program, were teammates on Rowan’s soccer team from 1991-92. Now, the pair have built winning programs at their alma mater.
Reaching the Division III NCAA tournament is usually the goal for most teams. It’s become the standard for the men’s and women’s soccer programs at Rowan.
“With the men’s and women’s program, it’s an expectation to get there,” women’s head coach Scott Leacott said. “When you don’t get there, it’s kind of a disappointment. We did enough throughout the year to earn it, and we’re really excited for it.”
Both teams open the first round of the tournament on Saturday. The women face Worcester State at 11 a.m. in Carlisle, Pa., while the men are home to host Marymount at noon.
Leacott and men’s head coach Scott Baker were teammates on Rowan’s soccer team from 1991-92. Now, the pair have built winning programs at their alma mater.
This marks the eighth time in program history, and the third consecutive season that both the men’s and women’s programs have made it to the NCAA tournament. It’s a testament to the “close-knit environment” between the programs and the support from the athletic department, both Leacott and Baker said.
“It says a lot about the college. It says a lot about the administration. It says a lot about the support both programs get. It says a lot about the coaches. It says a lot about the players. It’s a lot of hard work, and both programs are fortunate to be in the position that we are and to be at the school and get the support that we get.”
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‘It’s a journey’
The Profs went 15-0-1 during the regular season, never trailing in a game and scoring 56 goals and giving up three throughout the season.
“It’s something where we just kept going game by game and, you didn’t realize it until later in the season we’re like, ‘Oh, that’s kind of hard to do, kind of impossible thing to do,’’ Leacott said.
Senior Sara Wiedemann, the NJAC Offensive Player of the Year, led Rowan with 13 goals and 13 assists.
“She’s one of those kids who we kind of beg her to do something wrong,” Leacott said. “She’s a great student, phenomenal soccer player; she’s the one who gets the team going as far as all the stuff off the field. She’s a very unselfish player that will make sure if she’s getting double-teamed, she’ll share the ball a little bit more.”
The nature of the tournament presents a different challenge for every team, Leacott said.
“During the year, if you lose a game, all right, we play again on Saturday, let’s regroup, let’s refocus,” Leacott said. “Here, you got to play with confidence. This group does play with confidence, and that’s the most I’m looking forward to is if we can keep that confidence up because it’s a journey. I told them to enjoy every step along the way, and that’show we approach every NCAA tournament.”
‘More than just a game’
The men’s team (13-1-4) became the first NJAC team to win three conference championships consecutively, beating Montclair St. in penalty kicks on Nov. 6.
“Every game is a chance for us to get better and to push ourselves to be a team that can win a national championship,” Baker said. “That type of game becomes more than just a game itself. It’s an opportunity for us to get better and to compete in the national tournament and be that you know be that last team standing. To say I wasn’t nervous would be crazy.But I feel like we figured out a way to beat one of the top teams in the country at their home field in the finals.”
The conference championship secured the Profs an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The mindset doesn’t shift for the team heading into the tournament, as they were developing a championship winning team since day one of preseason.
“Our goal has been to do everything that it’s going to take to win a national championship every day,” Baker said. “There might be some obvious pressures and different obstacles that we have to get over, but our approach to it is exactly the same as day one. Let’s push as hard as we can and fight like it’s a national finals.”
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