Coming into this season, Lady Topper’s soccer coach Jason Neidell said he didn’t know what to expect out of his freshman class.

Little did he know that several of his freshmen would make an impact right away.

“I knew we had some good players in the freshman class who would be key contributors this season,” he said. “I just didn’t know it would be so early and in such a grand capacity.”

Freshmen midfielders Ali Stahlke, Sydney Sisler, Christen Sims and Courtney Rymer have played in every game this season.

Stahlke has started each game and Rymer has started all but one.

But it wasn’t just Neidell who didn’t see this coming.

“I definitely didn’t know what to expect at the beginning of the season,” Rymer said. “I was mostly expecting an off-the-bench role. I remember talking to the other girls about even getting to travel to away matches.”

Stahlke, Sisler and Sims all had similar expectations for this season and said they were pleasantly surprised with the amount of playing time they’ve received.

Sims and Sisler have already begun making the most out of their time on the field, having both tallied a goal and an assist in the team’s first six games.

Neidell said it’s “fantastic” to get that much out of the younger players.

“They’ve brought a whole new level of competitiveness within the team,” he said. “It’s a huge feather in the cap for the freshmen to come in here and earn respect and credibility right away.”

It’s hard for freshmen who play fall sports to be comfortable right away, Neidell said.

“It’s not like baseball, softball or even basketball where they have time to adjust to school,” he said. “They’re sort of thrown into the fire and don’t have time to adjust to athletics or school.”

Sims said she feels nervous playing in her first year of college, but she said that gives her more adrenaline on the field.

Despite the nerves that the freshmen may be feeling, Neidell said he still has just as much confidence in them as he does the upperclassmen.

“They’ve exceeded expectations,” he said. “They’ve been a significant part of our success so far. They’ve mixed well with the upperclassmen as well.”

Neidell said he didn’t recruit any forwards for this season, but Sims and Sisler, who were recruited as midfielders, have been able to see time at the forward position because of a shortage at the position.

“We felt like we had most of our holes filled,” he said. “But we’ve had some players come in and some attacking things for us this year. We’re still trying to find the right fit personality-wise up front.”

Neidell said he expects a lot more from the freshmen as the season goes on.

“As the season progresses and as they feel more comfortable, I think we’ll see them continue to develop,” he said. “Now, we’ve sort of raised the bar for them.”

The Lady Toppers played the University of Kentucky to a scoreless tie on Friday night after two overtime periods and beat Marshall 4-1 on Sunday in the University of Kentucky Tournament.

The Lady Toppers begin conference play at home on Friday against Florida Atlantic at 6 p.m.