The Villanova women's soccer will begin their 2017 season on Sunday against the Delaware Blue Hens and it has been an exciting time for a team that is under new head coach, Chris McLain.

McLain was announced as the head coach in December and he has brought in a staff and nine newcomers to help create a culture at Villanova.

"The first eight months have been the most exciting time of my coaching career," stated McLain. "Being an associate or an assistant coach has always been exciting and doing things in a way that you dream of makings it happen. We have started fresh here with a team that is excited to have a whole new professional staff with a different system and a whole new way to play. It's been pretty exciting!"

This season's roster will feature 31 student-athletes who are eager to learn. "This team want to impress the coaching staff and show that they can make an impact right away. So every day everyone is basically trying out and proving themselves so they can be a part of this system. We have a lot of players that are eager to not only prove themselves in one position but in multiple since in this system you have to play multiple positions," said McLain.

Leading this team on and off the field this season will be the three captains who were announced in the spring, senior Emily Kuefler, sophomores Kristin Barbour, and Conner Huggins.

McLain shared that they were chosen because, "all three of them have embraced the system with open arms, they have said they want to be extensions of the coaches."

The Wildcats welcomed seven freshman and two transfers to the team this fall, all nine have brought more competition and helped shaped the teams character shared Kuefler.

"Overall we are a team of characters which makes it fun. We are still working on where people play best and who works well out on the field with each other but it's a great blend."

Emma Firenze and Rebecca Gartner are the two seasoned players that transferred to Villanova; Gartner from Baylor and Firenze from Ohio State. Both have made an impact on not only their teammates but the coaches since arriving only a few weeks ago.

"Rebecca, even as a goalkeeper, is constantly winning every fitness test and during every workout she wants to lead the team. She is showing that it doesn't have to be vocal leadership, but that just by her presence on the field, she is a great leader," McLain shared.

Firenze and McLain both came to Villanova from Ohio State. She's now able to be an extension of the coaching staff and help others on her team understand and learn since she comes with the previous knowledge.

Kuefler shared, "Emma, having worked with the staff before, brings a lot more prior knowledge and skills."

Overall this team is hungry and ready to get out on the field and show what they have been working on.

Villanova's first opponent Delaware is entering the 2017 season the same way the Wildcats are, under a new head coach. "Anytime there is a new coach, there is a new energy and the players want to learn," said McLain. "It is an exciting time for Delaware and Villanova and I think it makes for a perfect first game. Neither team wants the loss; that will be the tactical part going through it."

But the Wildcats aren't just focused on beating the Blue Hens, this will be a much bigger test shared McLain, "This will be a test to how we have done in our training sessions. I know the focus will be beating Delaware, hopefully. But truth be told, the bigger test will be more internal."

Afterwards Villanova will play eight other non-conference games, playing their first road game at James Madison on the 24^th. To close out the month of August, the Wildcats will host the Princeton Tigers on the 27^th.

September will see the close on non-conference and the start of BIG EAST. St. Joseph's and Lafayette will come to the Higgins Soccer Complex during Labor Day weekend and after Villanova will travel to Lehigh for a Friday night game under the lights. La Salle will travel to Villanova on the 10^th followed by Harvard on the 15^th. The Wildcats will travel down Lancaster Ave, for the first of three road games, to take on the Drexel Dragons on the 17^th and close out non-conference play.

Villanova will travel to Providence and Marquette to finish out the month of September, both of those games can be seen on the BIG EAST Digital Network. The Wildcats will return home on October 1^st to host Xavier before taking a trip to South Orange, New Jersey to take on the Seton Hall Pirates on BEDN.

The Wildcats will host the 2016 BIG EAST Champion Georgetown Hoyas on the 8^th of October for a 1 p.m. game before hitting the road to Creighton on the 15^th for a BEDN Sunday afternoon matchup. Villanova will return to the main line to host St. John's on the 19^th and DePaul on the 22^nd for Senior Day, all can be seen on BEDN. The final game of the season will be on the road at Butler for a Thursday night BEDN game.

"We aren't winning a national championship on game one, it's the first game of many, and we want to just be better than the last game that we played," stated McLain.