TEANECK, N.J. –  The Fairleigh Dickinson women's soccer team is set to begin its 20th season on Thursday, August 22, at 4 p.m., when they travel to Edinburg, Texas to take on Alabama State in the UTRGV Tournament. The Burgundy and Blue will also play Miami (Fla.) on Sunday, August 25, at 12 p.m., in the tournament.

Head Coach Eric Teepe enters his sixth year at the helm in 2019 and looks to qualify for the NEC Tournament for the seventh consecutive season. The Burgundy and Blue were picked third in the 2019 NEC Preseason Poll as announced by the league on Thursday, August 13. A season ago, the Knights qualified for the NEC Tournament as the four seed with an overall record of 6-10-3 (4-3-1 NEC) before falling to eventual conference champion Central Connecticut State, 2-1, in the NEC semifinals.

The Knights feature an experienced roster that consists of one graduate student, four seniors, eight juniors, seven sophomores and five freshmen. 

The Burgundy and Blue have two All-NEC First Team performers returning this season in seniors Stasi Torchia and Samantha Roff. Torchia logged the fourth most minutes on the team last season and is crucial in controlling possession of the ball through the midfield. Roff leads the defense as she helps the backline get aligned. All-NEC Rookie Team defender Noam Kedem's play was a big part of the reason the Knights only allowed 1.32 goals per contest. Fellow All-NEC Rookie honoree Madelyn Robbins enters her sophomore campaign with confidence after recording six points last season and earning the conference recognition.  

Junior Viktorija Miseljic, the team's leading scorer from a season ago, returns after a campaign in which she tallied 14 points, which was good for sixth best in the NEC. Fellow junior Sofia Albertsson finished eighth in the conference and second on the team with 11 points. FDU had three players each tally four assists on the year and the Burgundy and Blue totaled 23 assists as a team, which ranked third in the NEC. In regards to his offense, Teepe said, "On the attack we have some really good players that will aid the offense and we have an exciting lineup up and down the field."

Torchia had this to say about the Knights offensive unit, "I think our offense this year is going to be better than what we had before because a lot of us have more drive to score. Everyone on this team wants to push through this season and win a ring."

FDU's defense is led by Roff, Kedem and graduate student Julia Shea. The Knights will also turn to sophomore Christa Waterman, senior Jackson Bennett and junior Chloe Chefero on the defensive end. The Burgundy and Blue play aggressively on the defensive end and attack the ball carrier. Roff said, "we have a lot of players returning and they made leaps and bounds in the spring, and we will look to take that to the field this season."

Senior goalie Amanda Fitzgerald returns after starting all 19 of the Knights' games a season ago. She recorded 82 saves on the year, which was good for a 0.774 save percentage. The netminder also posted a goals against average of 1.22 on 188 shots faced. Fitzgerald and company will look to build on the four shutouts she recorded against Marshall, Army, Bryant, and LIU Brooklyn. She has tallied 20 wins in her career and her goals against average has improved each of the past three seasons in net.

Teepe concluded, "It's an exciting time as we have an experienced team and we know we want to achieve more this season. We know it's going to be a difficult battle as there are a lot of strong teams in the conference, with quality coaches and players, but we will look to take this program another step forward."

Following the two-match trip to Texas, the Burgundy and Blue will host their home opener at University Stadium on Thursday, August 29, against Lehigh at 7 p.m.