Despite the ups and downs the UNC Wilmington women’s soccer team faced during their 2013 season, the team remained steadfast, knowing that they possessed a certain valuable asset: youth.

While finishing the year with a 9-10 (4-4 CAA) record was not ideal, for Coach Paul Cairney and the rest of the team, optimism remained, as many key players would return for the 2014 season.

The Seahawks welcome back nine returning starters from last year’s team, along with 23 letter winners, having only graduated three seniors. Fellow coaches around the league expect the team to contend as well, as UNCW was predicted to finish fifth in the conference in the annual poll.

Highlighting those returning players are Preseason First-Team All-CAA selections, senior Stephanie Bronson and junior Katrina Guillou. Guillou led the team with 10 goals last season, good enough for third in the conference.

Also returning are juniors Morgan Leyble and Maddie McCormick, who garnered Second and Third-Team All-CAA honors at the end of last season.

For Cairney and his club, the youth of the core contributors is a bright spot for the program.

“It’s great to have such a young, talented group,” Cairney said. “We have a chance to develop players at UNCW. Our hope is that through their freshman, sophomore, years they keep getting better.”

The added year of experience should help the Seahawks rebound, following last year when they suffered through a difficult season after six starters graduated from the year before.

In 2012, behind a veteran squad composed of many upperclassmen, the team came within one goal of earning an NCAA bid, falling to Hofstra 2-1 in double overtime of the CAA championship game.

“We had seven seniors on our team in 2012,” Cairney said. “Last year, we’re dealing with a very, very young team. Then we started against a decent level of opponent. But, midway through the season, we won seven of our last 12 so I feel like we got better as we progressed.”

UNCW will need to continue that late season surge into this year, as they face a difficult non-conference schedule, with five of their first eight opponents coming from the ACC.

The team has already shown their ability with two, close 1-0 exhibition losses to No. 4 UNC and No. 18 Duke, respectively.

“One of the positives is their ability to compete 90 minutes against arguably the top program in womens soccer in the last 20 years,” Cairney said of his team’s performance against the Tar Heels. “The thing we need to work on is keeping composure. I want our team to rely on their ability as players.”

The Seahawks open their season on Friday at N.C. State, before games against No. 21 Wake Forest and No. 5 Virginia Tech later in the season.

While the schedule may seem daunting, it was constructed with a greater purpose.

“We did it in 2012, with a tough non-conference schedule,” Cairney said. “With the young team that we have, the sophomores and juniors are getting a taste of what it’s like to play those top 25 programs, so we hope it prepares us for making a run at the conference championship.”