Kennedy, Carpenter fill the void

Texas soccer struggled earlier this season without 2004 top scorers Kelly Wilson and Kelly McDonald, winning just three of its first nine games. Since then, the team found its offensive firepower and won seven of its last nine games, securing a berth in Wednesday's Big 12 Tournament.

That recent offensive success stems largely from sophomores Kelsey Carpenter and Caitlin Kennedy, who lead the team with six and five goals, respectively, while combining for an additional seven assists.

"Obviously losing two forwards such as Kelly [Wilson] and Kelly [McDonald] is kind of hard to transition from, but Kelsey and Caitlin have made it a lot easier," senior Melissa Adrouny said. "There's no doubt that Kelly and Kelly were two great forwards, but Kelsey and Caitlin have just as much potential as the two of them."

After competing against each other in club soccer, Carpenter transferred to Kennedy's club team, where they played together throughout most of high school. The two also played under Longhorn head coach Chris Petrucelli on their Olympic Development Program regional team during that period. Both factors helped persuade Carpenter to eventually join Kennedy in Austin.

"Kelsey was actually looking at a lot of different schools than I was, and the only one in common we really had was UT," Kennedy said. "I think her top two came down to UT and A&M. I committed in the very beginning of June going into my junior year, and she committed a lot later than me.

"So when I found out she was coming I was pretty excited, because we were good friends and played well together."

The two benefited as freshmen from playing with Wilson and McDonald. They both cite last year's second round Big 12 Tournament win over Kansas as their favorite Longhorn memory, a game in which Texas rallied from a two-goal deficit to win 3-2 on a McDonald goal in double overtime.

"They're just unbelievable players and just watching them in practice and games helped me learn so much and improved my game," Carpenter said. "I think being on the team with them last year just really helps us step into that role and learn from them."

Kennedy said playing with the Kellys helped her learn to play different positions and improved her work ethic, two traits Carpenter quickly cites as Kennedy's strengths.

"Caitlin works harder than anyone I've ever met on the field," Carpenter said. "She has the best work ethic I've ever seen. She's such a dynamic player in every position she plays. We even had her in the back picking up some slack for some of the injured players.

"She steps up at every position that she's called to and that really just shows the quality player she is and the quality person she is."

This season Carpenter and Kennedy are helping Texas' nine freshmen adjust to the rigors of college soccer. The Longhorns start three freshmen on their defensive line, in addition to having freshman Dianna Pfenninger in goal.

Pfenninger, who has already been named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week twice this season after posting three shutouts and a 0.98 goals against average, credits Carpenter and Kennedy for Texas' recent success.

"[Caitlin and Kelsey] have been huge," Pfenninger said. "They're two really aggressive players, they're not afraid to shoot and they're great at scoring. So that's always a great asset to have on any team."

So while the Longhorns have high hopes for this year's Big 12 Tournament and probable NCAA Tournament berth to follow, the future for this Texas team is extremely bright.

"We've come back from being down this year, and we still have that fight in us," Carpenter said. "As we grow, we're going to be even better than we are this year and than we were last year."