The core of the women’s soccer team comes from the Class of 2015, and this season they will have one more shot at postseason glory. 

The team’s leaders in goal, at defense, in the midfield, and forwards are all seniors and will look for a possible return to the NCAA Tournament this year after crashing out of the quarterfinals of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Tournament last year.

Once again, the Judges will look to midfielder Sapir Edalati ’15 to lead the team from the top of the formation. The midfielder was tied for the team lead with nine goals and added a pair of assists, appearing in all 19 games for the squad. 

Though she naturally plays more of an attacking midfield role, Edalati was forced into a becoming a striker when forward Dara Spital’s ’15 season was cut short due to injury midway through October. 

The team will also return forward Holly Szafran ’16, who finished third on the team in both goals, four, and assists, three, and made apperances in all 19 games for the Judges.

Midfielder Alyssa Fenenbock ’15 will once again patrol the Judges’ midfield alongside Edalati in an attacking role, with a number of other returning midfielders. The Judges will see midfielders Sara Isaacson ’16, Ally Parziale ’16 and Haley Schachter ’16 split time in a defensive midfield position. 

Both Shachter and Isaacson appeared in all 19 games for the Judges, while Parziale made 16 appearances and was a key substitute off the bench.

The Judges’ defense returns three of last year’s four starters, graduating captain Kelly Peterson ’14. The back four will be run by defensemen Emma Eddy ’15 and Alec Spivack ’15. 

The squad will also see increased roles for defensemen Jessica Morana ’17 and Julia McDermott ’17, both of whom appeared in more than half of the Judges’ games last year off of the bench.

Goalie Michelle Savuto ’15 will return in net with a 1.12 goals against average and a 10-6-3 record. Savuto helped the Judges set a school record in shutouts two years ago but was not the beneficiary of the same luck last year, twice giving up just one goal.

The squad found goals at a premium after Spital went down with injury, scoring multiple goals just twice in the six games that followed. 

Relying more on the midfielders rather than the forwards, the Judges fought through an inconsistent offense to finish at 10-6-3 overall, 2-3-2 in conference games. 

Though the squad missed out on an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, they returned to the postseason with the second seed in the eight-team ECAC Tournament and hosted the Castleton State College Spartans in the quarterfinals.

Armed with a 7-1-3 record on Gordon Field, the Judges looked to sneak past Castleton State at home, but were held to a 2-2 draw after extra time. 

Castleton State, ranked seventh in the tournament, pulled out the upset with a seven-round shootout victory over the Judges, ending the squad’s postseason hopes.

Although their season ended before the squad hoped, a veteran core should give them the ability to stay competitive in a tough UAA, if not make a run for the conference title. 

The conference features two teams in the top 25 at the beginning of the season—last year’s champion Washington University in St. Louis at the No. 4 ranking and Emory University at the No. 11 ranking.

The Judges should see another successful season behind a core group of seniors and eight of 11 returning starters. 

Paired with a deep bench, the squad should have little trouble putting up goals and staying in the attacking third of the field. 

The squad will look to improve on its fifth-place finish in the UAA and possibly even contend for an at-large NCAA Tournament bid should the team not win the UAA.

The Judges will open their season Friday against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Gordon Field at 6 p.m.