STATESBORO - Georgia Southern head women's soccer coach Chris Adams and the Eagles know that the 2024 Fall season was not a typical one for the program he has built in Statesboro over the last five years.

Going into the year, the team had to rely on a lot of underclassmen at various times, and that lack of experience resulted in many up-and-down moments for the team.

"Starting eight freshmen and sophomores in most lineups last year, there wasn't a lot of experience, so unfortunately they had to get a lot of on-the-job training," Coach Adams said. "It posed problems at times, but it also paid dividends because we were able to build off that young lineup and carry that over into the Spring, where we were able to get four results."

Indeed, the trial-by-fire season of six wins and missing out on the Sun Belt tournament put an extra onus on the team to grow and take another step forward this season. To achieve that, Coach Adams will lean heavily on his three seniors - forward Bri Conley, midfielder Carley Borgelt and defender Erin Wilkins.

"I think it's pretty cool because there's one senior in every position line," Coach Adams said. "There's some natural leadership there, and the younger players look to them for guidance. Erin has been in our back line for her first three years and continues to do a good job, especially with her attacking ability. Carley Borgelt is an absolute rock in the midfield. She covers so much space as a box-to-box midfielder and keeps the ball for our team. And then Bri has put the injuries that plagued her a little bit last year behind her and is the fittest I've seen her in the entire time she's been here."

"All three of them have been in the lineup during the bulk of their careers," Coach Adams said. "But off the field, they're just really good students and young women of high character. They've worked really hard to master their trade and be the best versions of themselves on the field. I couldn't ask for a better group to have the younger players emulate."

Here's how the Eagles shape up in a position-by-position look for the Fall of 2025.

FORWARDS
The group up top for the Eagles is led by Conley (5-3, Sr., Midland, Ga.), who has eight career goals and 21 career points, which lead all players going into the Fall of 2025. The group will be supplemented by some of the midfielders and the return of Kaitlin Cook (5-7, R-Fr., Flowery Branch, Ga.) from injury, as well as a very talented incoming freshman class that includes Natalie Heckathorn (5-6, Fr., Evans, Ga.), Aaliyah Mohammed (5-4, Fr., Lawrenceville, Ga.) and Mia Glisson (5-2, Fr., Milledgeville, Ga.).

MIDFIELDERS
The midfield group is as deep a group as the Eagles have ever had at any one position group in Coach Adams' tenure in Statesboro. Begin with  Borgelt (5-5, Sr., Dacula, Ga.), who has started 49 of 52 matches in her previous three seasons, and add in juniors Meredith Pugh (5-5, Jr., Gulf Breeze, Fla.), Caitlin Conroy (5-8, Jr., Warrington, England), Kendall Wilson (5-6, R-Jr., Fort Walton Beach, Fla.), Addison Comer (5-3, Jr., Jackson, Miss.) and Lauren Connelly (5-4, Jr., Roswell, Ga.) to give the team a multitude of experienced options on any given day. Sophomores Maya Zmistowski (5-3, Soph., Braselton, Ga.), Peyton Free (5-5, Soph., Madison, Ala.) and Hailey Esser (5-5, Soph., Holly Springs, N.C.) all picked up valuable experience last season and the Eagles have also added a pair of transfers in Emma Chapman (5-4, Soph., Decatur, Ga.) from Georgia State and Maryann Beach (5-4, R-Fr., Roswell, Ga.) from Ole Miss. The Eagles also brought in a trio of freshman in Paisley Cathey (5-8, Fr., Cleveland, Ga.) and Alixandria Fletcher (5-4, Fr., Saint John's, Fla.).

"If there was a silver lining to all of the forward injuries last year, it was that we had to play tons of midfielders," Coach Adams said. "So we have very good depth in our midfield, with a variety of different types of players. So right now, the midfield is our engine. They bridge the gap defensively, they do the work in getting back and tracking, but then they are able to get on the ball and help connect the dots of our build-up play."

"It's also, definitely the most experienced group that we have, which allows us to play numerous formations and be unpredictable," Coach Adams said. "I'm really pleased with the versatility and the different looks that we get from our midfield."

DEFENDERS
The back line developed a lot of continuity throughout the 2024 campaign, anchored by Wilkins (5-7, Sr., Tacoma, Wash.), who enters the season as the Eagles' active leader in assists with 14. All-Conference returner Claire Casey (5-9, Soph., Williamston, Mich.) joins fellow sophomores Olivia Golden (5-6, Soph., Peachtree City, Ga.) and Libby Wooffindin (5-8, Soph., Featherstone, England) in returning after each had standout moments during their freshman campaigns. Add in Beach, Connelly and Free to the mix as well as incoming freshman Kelly Walsh (5-8, Fr., Alpharetta, Ga.) and the defender group remains one of the youngest position groups on the squad, but with plenty of experience gained from last year.

GOALKEEPERS
The competition at the goalkeeper spot is even more fierce than it was last year, when Katie Oakley (5-3, R-Jr., Covington, Ga.) started 13 matches and Quinn Wilson (5-5, Jr., Beaufort, S.C.) started six for the Eagles. Oakley was an All-Sun Belt selection as a freshman in 2022, while Wilson has registered 115 saves and four shutouts in her first two seasons. Now, add into that mix talented freshman Addison Daughtry (5-8, Fr., Marietta, Ga.), who was a two-time All-State honoree at Pope HS.

"I'm going to use a horse race analogy with our keepers," Coach Adams said. "On different days and different occasions, a different keeper has gotten their nose out front. And credit to the other two keepers, because when that happens, they bounce back. Collectively, they're all performing at a high level. And they've pushed each other constantly, which has continued to bring out the best version of all three of them."

THE SCHEDULE
In addition to the Sun Belt Conference schedule, the Eagles have two huge SEC tests in nationally-ranked Arkansas (August 24) and Tennessee (Sept. 7). Arkansas will be only the third time that Georgia Southern has hosted a nationally-ranked opponent at home, and the first since 2016. The Eagles also have road contests at SoCon regular season champion Western Carolina, UNCW, Kennesaw State and North Florida. Home non-conference opponents include Jacksonville and SoCon Tournament champion Samford, which will be the home opener for the Eagles on August 14. Georgia Southern will also find out quickly how it stacks up in the Sun Belt as two of the first three matches in league play are James Madison and Texas State, who played for the Sun Belt tournament title a year ago.

THE FINAL WORD
After finishing 10th overall in the league standings a season ago, the Eagles have been picked to finish ninth in the 2025 Sun Belt Preseason Coaches Poll. Coach Adams believes that the team can exceed those expectations, return to the league tournament and set themselves up for a run - not just in 2025 but in future years as well.

"You've got to get into the top eight, first and foremost," Coach Adams said. "But if we're eighth, I wouldn't necessarily be content. I think we are capable of more than that. My hope is that we're solidified in the tournament come season's end and jockeying for seeding. We have a really challenging schedule. But for the experience we have with our players, and where we are at with our development, I think getting to a fourth or fifth place bracket would be good progress. And then, as critical and as important as our three seniors are, that's still a very small number relative to other teams in the conference to lose, so the continuity should remain and we should be able to build off of it for the years to come."