Another asset to the team this year is Wheaton’s acknowledgement of its depth and the realization that the gap between his usual starters and the bench players was never large. There should be more substitutions than there were during last year’s regular season.

“There are groups of players that are making it hard for us to pick starters, but they’re making it easy for us to know that if we make a substitution, the level of the game will go up,” Wheaton said.

Wheaton has also switched up the formation at the outset of the season. For most of last year, he played a 3-4-3 and relied on junior Caitlin Fisher—a First Team All-Ivy and National U-21 player—to effectively cover both the back and midfield positions on her side of the field. Now, he’s favored the 3-5-2, using sophomores Liz Lima and Alisha Moran on the outside and keeping Fisher in the back.

Senior Bryce Weed and Second Team All-Ivy sophomore Liza Barber join Fisher in back for now. Past starters sophomore Lauren Cozzolino and senior Katie Urbanic figure to work their way back into the regular playing rotation when healthy.

Totman and Yenne, who Wheaton refers to as two of the best forwards in the nation, stand to be his regular starters. Sophomore Emily Colvin and co-captain Caitlin Butler, who Wheaton says is leading by example, should be among the most regular players coming off the bench.

Wheaton’s newest favorite in the midfield alongside All-American Katie Westfall is freshman Maile Tavepholjalern, who has Westfall’s ability to see the field and spot the hard-to-find openings. Hodel is Harvard’s more defensive-oriented player in the middle, but she contributes on offense indirectly—by allowing the other players in the middle to take risks—and directly, as she is often left with outside looks at the net.

The greatest unresolved situation for Wheaton is in net, where two freshmen will likely share time. He has a talented Californian in Katie Shields, who played in the national club finals each of the past two seasons. There’s also Maja Augustduttir, who’s the backup goaltender on Iceland’s national team.

Augustduttir will be missing the next two weeks of the season to play for her national team in World Cup qualifying, giving Shields the job for now. Wheaton split the two keepers against Vermont, and if Augustduttir weren’t away at present, he said he’d continue to split the two.

The season resumes with the Harvard Invitational this weekend, as the team will strive to avoid any further obstacles towards maintaining its positive attitude.