Former ECU assistant to head women's soccer in fall
Women's soccer looks to improve in fall 2005 with a new
head coach and five new freshmen signees
Tim Rink / Reporter
After a 5-12-1 season that ended with the dismissal of the
head coach, the Elon Phoenix women's soccer team is ready
to turn things around this year.
The Phoenix gave their fans a present on Monday by
announcing the hiring of Chris Webb to fill the vacant
position as head coach. Webb has been coaching at Eastern
Carolina University since 2000. She was able to lead the
Pirates to a fourth place finish in the highly competitive
Conference USA in 2004.
Before getting her job at Eastern Carolina, Webb served as
an assistant at Campbell University and coached at North
Carolina Wesleyan, her Alma mater, before that.
Webb is excited about her new position and looks forward to
making progress with the Phoenix. "I am very excited to
lead this wonderful program," she said. "I feel
like there is a lot of potential here.
Elon is a strong academic school with a beautiful
campus." Elon athletic director Dr. Alan White is
excited about the change.
"We are very pleased to have Coach Webb join our staff
here at Elon. We feel that she will keep moving our program
in the right direction and keep us competitive in the
Southern Conference," he said.
Before the announcement of Coach Webb's hiring, the
Phoenix announced the signing of five new players to breathe
new life into the program; Emily Favret (Hagerstown, Md. /
Smithsburg HS), Susannah Gianakos (Charlottesville, Va. /
Monticello HS), Elizabeth Johnson (Miami, Fla. / Gulliver
Prep), Katlin Persichini (Hudson, Ohio / Walsh Jesuit HS) and
Kerri Speers (Homestead, Fla. / Gulliver Prep).
Favret was named to two first team All-County teams during
her high school career. Her team won regional championships
in each of her four years on the team. She is a 5'9"
forward and midfielder.
Gianakos is another forward and midfielder. She played for
Monticello High School in Virginia and led her team to three
straight district finals. She was named First Team
All-Jefferson District and First Team All-Central Virginia
player three times during her varsity career. Her club team,
the FC Richmond Mystx won the 2004 WAGS Championship and the
Bethesda Championship as well as being a Virginia State Cup
finalist.
Johnson is 5'9" and is the only goalkeeper being
brought in for next year's team. She was named First Team
All-Dade after her junior year and helped her prep team at
Gulliver High School become ranked number two in the state
and kept the school's streak of nine consecutive division
titles in tact.
Persichini is a 5'6" defender who was the MVP and
defensive player of the year after both her junior and senior
year of high school. Her team won Ohio State titles in 2001
and 2004 and made the semis in 2002 and 2003. Her team did
not lose a single home game under her watch.
Speers is a mid fielder from Gulliver High where she played
with Elizabeth Johnson on the prep and ODP team and was also
a member of the All-Dade county team in 2004.
With these new recruits, things will look up for the Phoenix
in 2005-06.
Contact Lauren Sims at pendulum@elon.edu or
278-7247.
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