A new season brings new challenges and for the Georgia soccer team, it also brings relief. Unlike 2008 when it went 11-11-1 and faced perennial powerhouses like UNC, Duke, Stanford, Virginia and defending champion Southern California, Georgia’s 2009 schedule is much more user-friendly.

Despite those tough losses last year, they now have those types of games under their belts, and to be the best, they must play the best. The squad looks to come back prepared for the 2009 season, ready to pound some goals in the back of the net, put some W’s on the board and make some headway in the 2009 NCAA Tournament.

Georgia’s non-conference schedule includes trips to Clemson and Charlotte and see Kennesaw State, Minnesota, Mercer, Florida Atlantic, Northeastern and Georgia State visit UGA Soccer Stadium.

“We are very excited about the opportunities before us and feel we have put together a challenging schedule for this fall,” Georgia head coach Patrick Baker said in a release. “The team is looking forward to 12 home games throughout both the non-conference and SEC schedule. The non-conference opponents will prepare us for conference play and … our Nike Tournament will bring Florida Atlantic and Northeastern to Athens and should make for a fantastic weekend of soccer.”

This season also marks the final season in the illustrious career of forward Carrie Patterson. She enters her senior season as the most prolific Georgia point-getter (84) and is tied with Mandy Aiken for most career goals (33). She is 22 shots and five assists shy of becoming the all-time leader in both of those categories and has been named to the All-conference first team three times, a first in Georgia history.

Patterson has been named to the Hermann Player of the Year Award Watch list and is a SoccerBuzz Magazine preseason All-American.

In addition to Patterson, this year’s returns experienced players such as juniors Marah Falle, Alex Hooker and Caroline Simpson, who combined for five goals last season, and sophomores Ashley Miller and Jamie Pollock, who were the second and fourth leading scorers in 2008, respectively.

Falle was marred most of the year by a nagging calf injury and scored both of her goals in a 2-1 victory over Utah in the first game of the season.

Hooker and Simpson both played in all 23 games last season and scored two goals and one goal respectively.

On the backline, the departure of defensive stalwarts Megan Tomlinson and Kristin Garman leave a talented, yet relatively inexperienced group of defeners behind.

Sophomore center back Bailey Powell, the only Bulldog to play every minute of every game, and junior left back Kelli Corless are aided by senior Natalie Farley and redshirt freshman Jamie Bouck and Jenna Buckley, neither of whom touched the field last season.

Corless missed the first half of the season due to a violation of team rules but rebounded strongly in the second half to notch three assists, all in the SEC Tournament, and was named to the preseason All-SEC team.

Georgia has few worries in the goal keeping department as senior Michelle Betos and her miniscule 1.19 goals against average (0.61 GAA in Southeastern Conference). Betos is tied for second in career wins (34) and career shutouts (18) and holds the second best all-time GAA (0.79) set in 2007. She played in all 23 games last season and started all but one.

And her backup, redshirt freshman Ashley Baker, has played internationally for the U-20 and U-19 English national teams. Last November she competed in the U-20 Women’s World Cup and Chile and in July traveled to Russia to compete in the U-19 UEFA European Women’s Championship.

The Bulldogs have battled in key matches where the squad has shown extraordinary resilience. With Patterson’s senior year on the horizon, a supporting cast of experienced and prepared athletes, the 2009 Georgia soccer squad is to make quick work of their opponents.