WALTHAM, Mass. – The Bentley University women's soccer team will kickoff the 2023 season on Thursday when they take on Molloy for the first of two games on Long Island to start the season.

Thursday's game begins at 4:00 PM, and on Saturday the Falcons play Wilmington University at 4:00 PM. Both games are hosted by Adelphi and can be streamed at https://ne10now.tv/adelphipanthers/

New head coach Sarah Dacey leads a team that has 15 players return from last season's squad that reached the Northeast-10 playoffs. Dacey came to Bentley with a strong track record of success as a head coach and as a student-athlete.

"We are excited to begin the 2023 season," Dacey said. "The team has been working hard and we are looking forward to putting things together for the upcoming weekend." 

"We have a solid returning group and the incoming players have fit in nicely," she continued. We know how competitive our schedule is, so it's going to take all of us to put our best foot forward and see how good we can be." 

Dacey was previously the head coach at Curry College, Barry University and Babson College. Her stint at Barry included two Sunshine State Conference Coach of the Year awards, two trips to the NCAA Tournament and three SSC championships. As a student-athlete at the University of North Carolina, she was a three-time national champion and an All-America.

Dacey's team this season will look to keep the Falcons' recent run of success going. They've made the NE10 playoffs in four of the last five seasons, including an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2019.

Captains Abigail Cash, Sophia Killeen and Sarah St. George lead a team that is built upon strong a strong defense and is opportunistic going forward.

Junior center back Jillian Hendriksen, a second team All-Conference selection last season, anchors a backline that also features senior Ryenne Feeney, Killeen, St. George and graduate transfer Athena Kordis, from Assumption.

They will play in front of junior goalie Claire Ewen, who started all 18 matches last season and earned a NE10 Goalie of the Week award.

Further up the pitch, junior Sydney O'Connor is the team's leading returning scorer after she notched four goals in 2022. The team will also look for goals from Cash, 2022 All-Rookie team selection Scarlett D'Amico and junior Bridget Gleason.

Junior Jenna Hendriksen leads an experienced group of midfielders that features junior Gabby Vachon, South Dakota transfer Liv Muehlberg and graduate transfer Emily Hartson from Seattle University.

After the season opening games on Long Island, the Falcons will prepare for their home opener on Sept. 6 against Assumption in a non-conference match. The team then heads out on the road for four straight matches, including the NE10 opener against Assumption on Sept 19.

They return home on Sept. 27 to take on AIC to begin a stretch of four matches of five at home. That stretch sees home matches against Saint Anselm (Oct. 3), Franklin Pierce (Oct. 7) and Adelphi (Oct. 14). After two straight on the road against Pace (Oct. 18) and Saint Michael's (Oct. 24), the Falcons are back at home on Oct. 28 for Senior Day against Southern Connecticut.

The regular season concludes on November 1 at Southern New Hampshire. And the NE10 playoffs begin on Nov. 5.

All matches against NE10 opponents and non-conference home matches can be streamed on NE10 Now.

For information on how to stream the non-conference away matches, visit https://bentleyfalcons.com/sports/wsoc/2023-24/schedule