By OAKLEE FIELDER
Sports Editor
This year, the NWOSU soccer team has a new head coach. Carla Briscoe will lead the Lady Rangers in the 2025 season. Briscoe was born and raised in Canada, where she played D2 college soccer and volunteered as a coach for different teams.
She came to NWOSU and spent three years as a grad assistant and assistant coach. This year, she takes over for Alex Piekarski, who announced his resignation this last summer.
Lily Anderson, who was the assistant coach for Piekarski in the 2025 spring semester, continues her duty as the assistant coach for the 2025 season under Briscoe.
Anderson has a history in Alva; she played for NWOSU for five years before she stepped up to be the assistant coach. This will be both Briscoe and Anderson’s first full year as coaching duos. Briscoe says with her coaching past and Anderson’s playing past, they expect a good season.
Last year, the Lady Rangers won only two games overall and scored no wins in GAC conference play. Briscoe said, “This change is good for our program.”
As they look forward to the soon-to-start 2025 season ahead, they anticipate a better season than ones in the past.
Briscoe says that many of her upperclassmen and seniors are ones to watch, as they are showing up and they look like they want it.
Defenders Reese Welch and Elie Dang, and midfielder Jenna Mills, are three of her biggest players so far in the offseason. Katy Jo Werner, a midfielder, Christie-Anne Mills, a forward, and Luana San Miguel, a forward, were also mentioned when asked about players to keep an eye out for.
Werner was able to record 1 assist and 7 shots in the 2024 season. Mills recorded 1 assist and 2 shots in her 3 games played last year.
Overall, there is great hope in and for the NWOSU soccer program. If they can find and keep a rhythm, they expect to do well and win a couple of conference games.
Last year, the Lady Rangers’ overall record was 2-9-7. Their conference record was 0-5-6. With the enthusiasm from Briscoe and consistency all around, the Lady Rangers have the potential to find great success in the 2025 season.
The Lady Rangers have three pre-season games scheduled to be played, and have played one of them. They won their game against the Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes. The game against NOC Enid was cancled due to lightning in the area.
There is only more game before the season starts against the Rogers State University Hillcats.
Their first game of the 2025 season is on September 4 at 2pm against the Eastern New Mexico University Greyhounds.
This will be the first time the Greyhounds and Lady Rangers meet on the pitch. The Greyhounds had a 3-13-1 record last year, close to the Lady Rangers’ 2024 record.
The next game will be on September 7 against Fort Hays State University Tigers. The Tigers defeated the Lady Rangers last year 1-0 with a goal in the middle stage of the second half.