Athlete Profile: Jen Wehner
.jpg) MCLA Courtesy Phoot
Jen Wehner
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 MCLA, Junior from Cooperstown, N.Y.No. 1, Goalkeeper |
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When did you start playing soccer? Age 6 What was your first soccer team? "It was a team in the Cooperstown Soccer Club." Favorite soccer player: Ronaldinho Favorite soccer team: Brazilian National Team Best memory of playing soccer so far? "When I was 12 years old, there was an indoor soccer tournament, and I had 54 saves in one game." What's one thing about you most people wouldn’t know? "I was actually a really good gymnast when I was little." |
The Trailblazers' defense, however, has been much easier to pin down. Led by Jen Wehner, a 6-foot-tall junior goalkeeper, MCLA won seven matches by last week, outscoring its opponents by amazing 24-1 advantage in the process.
Wehner, who earned All-MASCAC First Team honors as a sophomore last fall, has raised her game even further in her junior year. Overall, she’s allowed just four goals in 10 games, making 53 saves and posting four shutouts along the way. Her 0.41 goals against average is up significantly from last season in which she gave up 1.08 goals per contest.
"I think defensively we've been so strong and, obviously, the goalkeeper plays a big part in that," Trailblazers head coach Deb Raber said. "Jen has been really strong all year, and I think the strongest part of her game is taking away crosses. Anything inside the 18-yard box, she's just bringing it out of the air. She's been training hard and making small improvements here and there.
"Most people think you can beat her low, but she's been working hard on that and no one has really been able to beat her to the corners. You'd have to try really hard to find a weakness in her game right now."
Wehner has been particularly solid over the last seven games in which MCLA has improved its record to 8-2-2 overall and 3-0-1 in conference play. The 'Blazers' keeper has seen time in six out of the seven games; earning solo shutouts in a hard-fought 1-0 win over Salem State and a 2-0 victory over Elms. She also teamed up with fellow Trailblazers goalie Kate Tsapatsaris for three other shutouts and has allowed just one blemish, a goal she let up in a 4-1 win over Framingham State, since the winning streak started on Sept. 22.
"I think what's improved a lot for our team over the last seven games is our organization and our communication," Wehner said. "We've tried to make that a big part of our defensive scheme. Our communication is helping us track the other team's offensive players better and we're marking up and keeping track of everyone who comes into the box."
 Wehner's only let four goals get past her in 10 games. |
"I think she's playing way more confident," she said. "She's just becoming more of a leader. She's a tall girl who also is very good in basketball. "I think the cool thing is that all the footwork training she's been doing, all the agility training and catching the ball and positioning is only going to help her this basketball season."
From the sound of it, the training she's been doing has also helped her on the soccer field, where she now appears to be one of the top goalies in her conference.
"Personally, I've been trying to work on my communication as well as my positioning when I'm in the goal," Wehner said. "I've been working on my angle play when the ball is in different areas of the field, including crosses. I've had a few shots that went down low that have come close or have gone by me, but my step position is more low to the ground, so I have the explosiveness to go down low or jump high if I need to."
While Wehner has played steady in goal the last seven games, the MCLA offense has been going at its opponents from all different angles. Everyone knows about Jess Tietgens by now. That usually happens when you break the college’s all-time scoring record. But with defenses focused in on stopping, or at least slowing her down, it has allowed for other players to jump into the action. Eight different players have scored for the Trailblazers in the last seven games, led by Tietgens with eight goals and Brianna Bresett and Lindsay Borbolla with four apiece.
With five games to play, Tietgens' 11 goals this season is well off of the pace of the 30 strikes she scored last year, but with the way the team is playing as a whole, it seems like MCLA has found the right mix of steady defense combined with a balanced offense.
"I think that's how were approaching the games this season," Wehner said. "We know Jess is going to be man-marked or double-marked, so we know that the opportunities will be there for other people as well."
