May 19, 2012
SEASON OPENER
Wildcats visit Magic on Saturday

LONG BRANCH, N.J. - The New Jersey Wildcats will open their 17th season, traveling to Iona College to face the New York Magic at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

"It's a challenge for all teams going into the season due to player availability," Wildcats coach Jim Gabarra said of early season obstacles that W-League clubs face. "Teams can have what appears to be a very good roster but do not have their college players available. Also, there are youth national programs going on right now." However, the Wildcats have a roster of players who have seen success at both the college and W-League level, something that should provide good leadership for those new players who are joining the club.

"The group we have is an experienced one. For the most part, we have a very good core that has been around for quite a few years. That will help us greatly in the early going. My approach is we are going to focus on getting better every game and try to get in the playoffs to win a championship."

With the bulk of the Wildcats roster having been in place for the past few seasons, Gabarra felt that the team will definitely benefit from that fact, and it will also make getting everyone on the same page a more quickly accomplishable task.

"It is a huge asset to have players who are already familiar with each other, and it will pay us a lot of early dividends," he sai. "It will certainly make my job a lot easier as well. I do not look at it as a matter of the players integrating into my system. Rather, it is much easier for me to integrate into what they are comfortable doing."

The Wildcats will open their 2012 home season The College of New Jersey when it hosts the North Jersey Valkyries at 8:15 p.m. on Wednesday.

Tickets can be bought by calling 732-720-9163. More information about the Wildcats can be found at www.njwildcats.com.