Preseason Q&A With Head Coach Mark Batman

Entering his fourth season leading the Toledo women's soccer program, Head Coach Mark Batman leads a roster which has 24 returners and eight newcomers. Several players will return after missing significant portions of 2025 due to injury. Toledo looks to improve upon a 4-8-6 mark this season and return to the MAC Tournament. Coach Batman discussed a wide range of topics on this year's squad, including implementing a new system throughout the offseason and the importance of getting the results on the road.

What are your overall thoughts on the team as you've gone through the spring and preseason camp?

Batman: We've changed the style a little bit, changed the system a little bit. We scored 10 goals and gave up just one in four spring games, and that 100% transitioned over to the fall. In the preseason, we scored five goals and gave up zero. So, we're defending well, we're getting goals from different places, either from the flow of the game or from set pieces.

If we continue to defend well, we'll be in every single game. As long as we don't give up foolish scoring chances and silly goals, we will be in games.

You talked about implementing a new system a couple times now throughout the spring and summer - what does that new system look like? How has that changed from the past?

Batman: I think it just complements the current players that we have. Last year we were pigeonholed into what we could do with having so many kids out with injury, and we were shuffling kids around with whoever was available to make it work.

Now, I've always been a proponent of the system must complement the players, and players have to complement the system. That's why we don't recruit for a specific system. It allows us to be a little versatile. But with the girls that we have that are healthy, they are in a good competitive space and the system certainly complements them.

You won both scrimmages by a combined score of 5-0. How much confidence did last week's exhibitions and the way you played build confidence heading into the season?

Batman: The girls are feeling good about themselves. I'm very happy with their progress, but not content, and that's been the message. We haven't talked at all about winning games, just more of what the process looks like every single day and focusing on the details. We've been really critical, probably more critical than ever on them in practice so that the game days are easier.

That way, they can go into game days with a different kind of mindset, and I think that's still going to be the consistent message this fall - the process and the details that put yourself in a position to have success. That's been the main focus the last two-and-a-half weeks.

You returned 24 players from last season. Is that unusually high for college soccer today? What benefits have you seen from all these returning pieces coming back?

Batman: It's probably high today with the landscape of Division I athletics. Our freshmen and sophomores were really the first group that we could recruit at the time frame that you're allowed to do it, meaning those are the first two groups that we were able to contact on June 15th. So, our team is really, really young. Bringing all those players back with a couple McKenna's of the world that are finishing up their sixth years is really beneficial.

Then, we're getting some kids back slowly, some have practiced full-go for the first time since last fall. Keeley [Clinton], same thing. So, getting some of those kids back, I think that will be helpful. The freshmen that played a ton last year having so many injuries, they're not sophomores now - they're a little bit more seasoned because they've already played in big games. They played a ton of games based on all the injuries that we had. They forced us to do that and it expedited the learning curve.

What have you seen from players that missed time last year and their motivation in getting back on the on the pitch and back to full speed?

Batman: For one, they're incredible leaders. Between Lila Smith, Keeley Clinton, McKenna, Olivia Odgen. They're slowly getting back. I think that they are seeing how different our group is and how young and eager and talented they are. It just helps with that motivation to come back.

One of the key positions where you're bringing back a lot of players from injury along with new pieces is the back line. Talk about how you expect the back line to take a step up this year?

Batman: If we could have stayed healthy last year, I think we're in a different competitive space. I'm hopeful those kids can stay healthy this year. I think if we can stay healthy in the back, I think we'll be a pretty tough team to break down. But bringing a kid like Abby-Lee Sanogo (transfer from Lehigh), who's got a ton of game experience, she's mature beyond her years. She certainly helps to balance some of those injuries that we've had in the back. And if we can get McKenna and Keeley back, along with Olivia Ogden and Lila Smith, we're going to be deep there and that's what we want.

We really don't want anybody to ever play for 90 minutes unless you're a goalkeeper. So that's the whole point of having the back line the way it is, so we have some depth there. The incoming kids - Ava Collier, Kinsley Jones are doing really well and absorbing everything. Kaitlyn Colvert has been great as well - good field presence, good leader in the locker room. The girls respect her a lot. She should be a good-minute kid.

Going up front, what can we expect from the attack and the midfield this season, especially with returning leading scorer Morgan Spitler?

Batman: Spitler will have a little bit of a different role this year. She's more of a wingback, out-wide kid that really suits her personality and her skill set. She'll still be able to get in position to score some goals, just in a different way. I think offensively, we're trying to generate a lot more chances in games. I think we've proven that in the spring and with our two preseason games. So hopefully we can continue to get goals in different ways and spread the offense out a bit.

You'll have a new starting goalkeeper this year. What have you seen from that unit, including Paige Dornheggen, who was the backup the last two seasons?

Batman: That group is really, really fun and competitive. They have a very, very unique relationship between the four. Goalkeepers are always a little bit unique. Paige's development has been great. Bringing Grace [Konopatzki] in, who is very decorated and very experienced from Ball State, only helps Paige get better. Olivia Eaton is right there.
And then Ryane [Clawson] - big jump for her from playing club at Purdue to here, but she is doing really, really well. I'm happy with any one of those kids playing.

I think that's a little bit different than what we've had in the past where we went through one season with just two goalkeepers. I've always been a fan of three to four. If you can fit them on the roster, then do it. That group is uber competitive and a really fun group to work with.

Your non-conference schedule has a mix of familiar faces, new opponents, and you have a couple of early tests. Can you break down how that was built strategically?

Batman: Opening up at Dayton is going to be a really tough test. I don't think people realize how good they are. I've had multiple messages from people that didn't realize Dayton made the NCAAs last year. And I've told them that they are very, very good. Eric, the head coach there, is a good friend of mine. We've been trying to coordinate something the last couple of years, but just never really worked out with timing. The reason why we went overnight to Robert Morris was 100% preparation for Dayton. That was a 3.5-hour trip away on grass.

Learning how to win and get points on the road is important. So that Robert Morris trip was 100% in preparation for Dayton. And honestly, games like Dayton help us prepare to play at Miami, at OU, at BG, to play at Western, all on grass fields against really, really good teams. So, it wasn't just scheduling a harder opponent. It was also scheduling a challenging environment so that we can do a better job in the MAC. Adding Duquesne was a really good add as well. Another good 8-10 win team that's been competitive the last couple of years. Detroit Mercy is just an hour away, but it's a midweek game on the road at 7 o'clock, very similar to playing at Central, very similar to playing at Eastern, if it's a Thursday game. So, all of those games are for preparation for the conference and to challenge us so that we don't really see anything new come conference season.

You didn't get the results you were looking for last year. Would you say the motivation is more to bounce back from last year, or is it to put it behind you and start fresh and work towards your goal?

Batman: I think every year is a fresh start. I think we learned a lot about the group last year, about their fortitude. That was my message to them after Akron. Anybody watching that game probably didn't realize the scoreline. So, the message isn't really, 'let's think about the past,' but we do learn from the past. If not, we repeat it. And the message this year is we're moving forward. The team is almost new with all of the kids coming back from injury and new faces, with some sprinkled-in returning kids that played major minutes, like a Spitler and Sydney Hardesty. So, the culture is in a good place. Their mindset is different than what it was last fall. I think our leadership is in a great place. I'm just excited for really, really tough games coming up. That's the fun part, when you really get tested.

The goal is to return to the MAC tournament and be competing for the MAC title. What, in your mind, needs to happen this season to get back to playing in November in Columbus?

Batman: We have to continue how we play at home. We've been very, very good at home since day one, since we got here. And we have to get points on the road. It doesn't have to be pretty. It needs to be effective. I don't care what it looks like, because you don't draw pictures of the goals. You just say, 'OK, we won 1-0.'

So, I don't care what it looks like. I want results on the road. That's another reason why we've added some tougher away opponents in the non-conference to help us prepare for the MAC.

Players Mentioned

Keeley Clinton

Ava Collier

Kaitlyn Colvert

Paige Dornheggen

Olivia Eaton

Sydney Hardesty

Kinsley Jones

Olivia Ogden

Abby-Lee Sanogo

Morgan Spitler

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