By Wayne Witkowski
Sydney Lavan of Jackson wants to take care of some unfinished business in her final season as goalie for Monmouth University’s women’s soccer team.
The former Jackson Memorial High School star saw her season last fall end earlier than expected when eventual champion Siena College knocked the No. 1-seeded Hawks out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Tournament (MAAC) semifinals, 2-1. Siena scored on a rebound shot and a high header from the top of the box beyond the reach of Lavan for a 2-0 lead. It was Siena’s first trip to the finals since 2010. Monmouth ended its season 13-3-2.
Lavan had allowed only 15 goals — a 0.94 goals-against average that was second in the MAAC — and shut out eight opponents in her first full season as a starter last fall, as Monmouth won its third straight regular-season MAAC championship.
“It was a tough loss, but we have to focus on moving past that,” Lavan said. “We have to work on that as a team. They scored first and then led, 2-0, and we can’t let a team score first. I think that’s the first time that happened all year. But we have a good incoming freshman class and a transfer student (defender Abby Cuevas from the University of Connecticut), and that will help us at the midfield and the offensive side.”
That comes even with the departure of Erica Murphy, who scored 16 goals — the most scored by a player at Monmouth in a single season since 1998. She added three assists for 35 points — the most by a player at Monmouth since 2006 — before transferring for her final season of eligibility to No. 10-ranked Rutgers University.
Lavan is ready to do her part. Monmouth is the preseason favorite in the MAAC and has the preseason MAAC Player of the Year in Alexis McTamney.
“We know we have the team to beat, just like last year and the year before, and it helps us to be motivated more,” Lavan said.
Lavan said McTamney is a game-changer.
“It’s no surprise she got preseason Player of the Year,” Lavan said. “She’ll gives it her all.”
Lavan shares that same commitment. She had impressive credentials last season but fell short in the voting for the MAAC Goalie of the Year.
“I was disappointed, but it will make me work harder,” Lavan said. “The [conference] goalkeeper for the year last year earned it. I’ll just work as hard as I can, especially since it’s my last year. There’s always room to improve, and I’ll work every morning on distribution [of the ball] on the ground, on my drop kicks and goal kicks.”
Monmouth coach Krissy Turner says Lavan has had a solid preseason thus far.
“Sydney will be the starting goalkeeper,” Turner said. “Sydney gained a lot of valuable experience in 2015, and we look forward to her being a veteran leader for us. We expect our goalkeeper to make the routine plays as well as every so often a special play. We expect Sydney to do that. It is great to be recognized as the top team in preseason. However, we have lofty expectations, and our goals are not where we start but rather where we finish. Our current roster is the most talented I have had in all my years at Monmouth. We have athleticism and plenty of versatility. Our program has never been based on one player; it has been focused on the team. And this year’s team is driven to succeed.”
Lavan wants even greater success.
“I want to go out with the tournament title and go to the NCAA [Tournament as an automatic qualifier as conference champion],” Lavan said. “There are high expectations.”
In 2013, Monmouth made the NCAA Tournament as MAAC Tournament champion, but Lavan was not on the travel team that season.
“But [seeing Monmouth] making it was a great feeling to experience,” she said. “It’s definitely achievable this year, and it makes me work harder. It makes us all work 10 times harder.”
And Lavan and her teammates have added inspiration as they prepare for their Aug. 19 opener at Bucknell University: the acclaimed American women’s soccer team playing in the Olympic Games in Rio.
The women’s team was eliminated in an upset penalty kick loss to Sweden. Surprisingly, Lavan said on her player bio on Monmouth University’s website that her favorite player is on that team: field player Tobin Heath, not goalkeeper Hope Solo.
“It gets more attention [to the game], and it’s great,” Lavan said. “I’m glad that people come to watch our games, and this helps fans to come out.”
Lavan said her next ambition after this season is to pursue her chemistry studies in graduate school in her hopes of becoming a teacher on the college level, as well as a women’s soccer coach.