Looking Back: The Inaugural Season of Saluki Soccer

02/17/2020 | 3:00:00 | Women's Soccer

By: Brandon Lindholm, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Southern Illinois University women's soccer team finished its inaugural season with a 5-10-2 record in head coach Grant Williams' first year as head coach of the Salukis.

The Salukis named Grant Williams head coach on May 7, 2018 after having spent 13 years as an assistant at the Division I level. Over the course of his coaching career, Williams has coached 47 All-Conference players, in addition to four CoSIDA All-Americans. It took Williams only a few weeks to name former professional soccer player Libby Stout as the assistant coach, while also bringing in former Division I standout Nyomi Devine into the fold.

The Salukis would go on to sign 20 players in the program's first Signing Day class on Feb. 14, 2019. The class featured 18 freshman, in addition to junior Natalie Bethers, senior transfer Andrea Rodriguez from Louisiana Tech and hometown senior Ashley Moore.

The first official practice in program history was held on Aug. 7 at the Lew Hartzog Track and Field Complex. Following practice, Williams and select players met with the media to discuss their thoughts on the first year of Saluki soccer. "We finally got to get the ball out," said Williams. "Just having all the players in one place, all getting the ball out and being on the field together was a really special thing."

"It's very thrilling to start with a new program," said freshman forward/midfielder Devin Butler. "Especially with being local, I get to have people that I know come and watch me." Following Butler at the podium was Ashley Moore, who played her high school career at Carbondale High School. "It's a little bit emotional and exciting," said Moore on the start of her senior year being the inaugural season of Saluki soccer. "Being a part of an inaugural team – our pictures are going to be on the wall forever."

Four short days later, Saluki soccer would take to the field for the first time against another program in a season-opening exhibition against Tennessee Tech. Trailing for a majority of the game, the Salukis received a boost from Kaitlin DuCharme, who scored in the 67^th minute to tie the match up. Nearly two minutes later, Madison Meiring scored the go-ahead goal off of a pass from Kailyn Stone to put the Salukis up 2-1. Attempts to score from Tennessee Tech were denied by Dariana Mihalache and Nicole Raventos, who combined for nine saves to give the Salukis their first unofficial win.

Southern dropped a preseason tilt with the University of Illinois-Chicago days later before welcoming in Southeast Missouri State for their final exhibition match of the preseason on Aug. 17. SEMO got on the board first after 21 minutes of play before Liz Brechtel rammed an equalizer home in front of 2,150 Saluki faithful for Southern's first goal of the match. SEMO would later go on to rally for the victory, doing little to diminish the joy that came from the crowd getting to watch their Salukis in action for the first time.

After a preseason that saw the Salukis go 1-2, Southern welcomed in the University of Illinois-Springfield for its first-ever regular season match on Aug. 23. Shortly after getting underway, Kathryn Creedon produced a pass that split UIS' defense, giving Madison Bennion the opportunity to net the first goal in program history. A lockdown performance in the first half gave way to a 1-0 Saluki advantage going into the half.

Merely eight minutes into the second half, Emma Spotak scored off of an assist from Paityn Schneider to give Southern a 2-0 advantage and the eventual first victory in program history. "I told the kids that they will remember this night for the rest of their lives," said Williams. "They came here to be successful and I'm glad that with our first home-opener you get to look at the record and see that they got a win."

Southern would go on to finish the year the same as it started with a victory in its final home match of the season, a 3-1 decision against California Baptist to close out the season 5-10-2. "The season has flown by," said Williams. "There's a lot of gratitude in the kids believing in what we're trying to do here, their commitment and their resolve to stick with it. I'm ecstatic about the chance to get them into the weight room in the spring. The future is bright for us."

Many Salukis shined in their first season of play, including Liz Brechtel, who scored a team-high six goals and closed out the year with a hat trick against California Baptist. Brechtel also led the team in total shots (24), shots on goal (13) and overall points (12). Emma Spotak was second on the team in goals (2), while Madison Bennion, Kathryn Creedon, Madison Meiring and Ellie Lewis all tied for third with one goal apiece.

The quartet of goalkeepers combined for 115 saves on the season, led by Dariana Mihalache with 101. Mihalache also led the group with three wins, 16 starts and one shutout. Maddy Alaluf tallied 10 saves, one win and only allowed three goals in 30 shots faced. As a unit, the Saluki goalkeepers saved 74.7% of the shots they faced on goal, in addition to pitching four shutouts.

Beginning next season, the Salukis will go on to join the Missouri Valley Conference and play against some of the mainstays in the surrounding area. Coming off the program's first year, Southern has a ton of potential that it will look to realize as the next phase begins with spring training and exhibitions, beginning on Mar. 1.

"I want to say thanks to everyone who spent an afternoon or evening with us this fall," said Williams in his season-ending thank you video to Saluki fans after the team's final game of the year. "I hope that we have made you proud that we are your team and that you will continue to support us as we move from our first fall into our spring. We have great optimism about where we are going, and I think that tonight is a great introduction for where we're going to go this spring and into next fall."