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COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri soccer head coach Stefanie Golan announces the leadership group for the 2023 season, and senior Rachel Kutella as a team captain.
Kutella will join classmate Grace Pettet and junior Leah Selm as a captain for the squad this fall. Additionally, senior Jenna Bartels and junior Milena Fischer will unite with the captains to round out the team’s leadership group.
The leadership group is responsible for being internal leaders on the team and driving the team’s passion, focus, effort and energy every day. This group will work to continue exceeding program expectations while holding their teammates accountable and being a voice on the field.
Each member of the leadership group applied for the role and went through an interview process with the staff and Dr. Ralph Pim, the Director of Soccer Mental Performance. Overall decisions were based on seven qualities:
- The desire to embrace the burden of leadership
- A strong presence within the team
- Being consistently above the line in all they do
- Exceeding the standards
- A willingness to hold teammates accountable
- The will to say the hard things
- Investment in their teammates
Collectively, Pettet, Selm, Kutella, Fischer and Bartels embody many of these qualities, with each having different strengths.
“We are excited to work with Grace, Leah, Rachel, Milena and Jenna in this year’s Leadership Group,” said Golan. “Each one of them embraces the burden of leadership and wants to be a catalyst in continuing this program’s quest to win in the SEC and on a national scale. All of these women lead by example in striving to exceed the standards within the program, and they each bring different qualities as leaders to the group, that together will bring the right combination to internally drive the mission of the program.”
The trio brings a wealth of experience to the table. Kutella started all 17 games in 2022 for the Tigers and totaled 1,492 minutes played. Fischer played in 16 games for Mizzou and was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team for her work last season. Additionally, Bartels participated in 16 games totaling a single-season career-high 22 shots and tallying two assists. Together the three with Pettet and Selm will lead the 2023 team.
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