Note: The Warriors open the 2010 season with a tournament this weekend at Eiler-Martin Stadium, hosting Assumption on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Concord on Sunday at 11 a.m.

East Stroudsburg University has played in the PSAC women's soccer tournament in each of its first three seasons under head coach Rob Berkowitz, a streak the Warriors will look to continue as they return eight starters for the 2010 season.

ESU went 11-7-2 last season with a team that had only two seniors, and has just two seniors once again on this year's squad in forwards Lindsay Foder and Kailyn Buckley.

Foder (seven goals, six assists) and Buckley (eight goals, six assists) were both All-PSAC East selections last season, and Foder also earned NSCAA All-Region honors. Both players were also on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District team and have GPA's well above 3.9 in demanding majors – Foder in Speech Pathology and Buckley in Physical Therapy.

The seniors will lead a young team that may have as many as four freshmen and three sophomores in the starting lineup. The depth accumulated in Berkowitz's first three recruiting classes should also allow the Warriors to play as many as 15 players in the rotation at midfield and forward.

The bulk of the Warriors' returning experience is at the offensive end, where they led the PSAC with 2.65 goals per game and returns players who scored all but nine of the team's 54 goals.

Junior Devon Miniscalco, who scored a team-high 12 goals last season, and sophomore Marissa Spitler, who had seven goals and four assists, will key the offense as attacking midfielders. Miniscalco was an All-PSC East and Daktronics All-Region pick, and sophomore Sarah Garman will also see time in the center of the midfield.

The defensive midfield spot should be occupied by junior Sarah Rothrock, a two-year letterwinner, or sophomore Amanda Loeber, who started the PSAC quarterfinal game last season.

Buckley, a three-year starter, and sophomore Brianne Ingargiola will fill the outside midfield spots. Buckley has 14 career goals and 12 assists, and Ingargiola had three assists while starting all 20 games as an outside back last year and will push up in the formation.

At forward, Foder is already in ESU's career top 10 in both goals (18) and assists (15) and has been a member of two All-PSAC teams. A host of younger players will also look for spots in the starting lineup, as all three starting positions are open for competition.

Junior Megan Keiser has been an offensive contributor with two goals and eight assists over the last two years and junior Elva Composto has two career goals.

Sophomores Ashley McKenna (two goals, one assist) and Bridget Connell (one goal) split time in the starting lineup last season, and classmate Moreen Hunsberger had four goals and an assist off the bench. A pair of freshmen will also look for spots up front in Kerri McClay and Kaitlyn Hogue.

In the back, the Warriors will be without Carly Collins, who was first team All-PSAC East and NSCAA All-Region as a center back as a freshman but will miss this season due to injury. Freshman Katie Metrokotsas, a defensive midfielder, was also lost for the season over the summer and will look forward to her collegiate debut in 2011.

Berkowitz will look to a pair of underclassmen to step up in the middle of the defense in either sophomore Jenny Melton or freshman Michelle Gogolen. Junior Linda Martine enters her third year as a starter at outside right back, while freshman Brittain Wagner will look to earn the nod at left back. Rothrock and freshman Adrianna Gibbins may also contribute.

ESU will enter the season with four goalkeepers on the roster, all of whom will have a chance to earn the starting nod – junior Melissa Myers, sophomore Sarah Ginn and freshmen Nicki Keiser and Wagner, who set a national high school record with 18 consecutive shutouts last year at Union-Endicott (N.Y.), but may be penciled into the lineup as a field player instead.

Myers started 12 games last season, posting a 6-4-1 record and a 1.28 goals against average. She made a career-high nine saves in a 4-2 win at nationally-ranked IUP and had a 3-3-1 record against the PSAC East.

Ginn and Keiser both followed their sisters to ESU. Michelle Ginn was the starting goalkeeper over the final eight games last season, while Sarah Ginn comes to ESU as a sophomore after playing at Burlington County Community College (N.J.) last year. Nicki Keiser is the younger sister of junior Megan Keiser and was first team all-conference at Mechanicsburg as a senior.

The Warriors will face a 14-game conference schedule this season with the PSAC moving to a single-division format for the first time since 2004. The top eight schools will qualify for the PSAC playoffs. ESU is one of four schools that have made each of the last three conference tournaments, along with West Chester, IUP and Bloomsburg.