2023 TCU Soccer Recap: Midfielders

Gracie Brian completed her final collegiate season leading the midfield with another First Team All-Big 12 campaign

The 2024 TCU Soccer season is just two months away and the new squad is looking for a bounce back after being left out of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015, despite a 6-2-2 record in the Big 12. As we prepare for the new season, we’ll take a look back at the 2023 campaign and look ahead to how the roster shapes up in a new-look 16-team Big 12 conference, beginning with the Forwards & Midfielders.

The Horned Frogs offense was powered from the midfield by Gracie Brian who finished her highly decorated collegiate career with a team-best 21 points on nine goal and three assists in 2023 to earn her third consecutive First Team All-Big 12 selection. Joining Brian in the midfield is the aggressive sparkplug whose motor never seems to slow, Oli Pena. Starting all 19 game, Pena put one goal and one assist on the scoresheet, but as a true ranging midfield is impossible to miss on the field; she is highly involved on both ends of the field, tracking back in defense and also facilitating runs forward. Pena’s 2023 performance earned her a spot on the All-Big 12 Second Team for a second consecutive season and will be back for her senior season in 2024.

Other midfielders returning next season include Marli Galdamez, who saw action in all 19 games as a true freshman after a prolific high school career in Los Angeles, and Jennie Immethun who joined the starting lineup for conference play and played all but nine minutes in the ten Big 12 games. Added to the squad for 2024 are true freshmen Kaela Martinez and Cate Sarinopoulos along with Rutgers transfer Sara Brocious who started 81 games in her four seasons with the Scarlet Knights, scoring 12 goals and ranking as a top-ten all time assists leader for the program.

TCU begins its challenging non-conference slate hosting the Alabama Crimson Tide in Garvey-Rosenthal Stadium on Thursday August 15 at 7:00 PM and opens Big 12 play on September 12 vs. reigning regular season champion Texas Tech.