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Southwestern University

Women's Soccer Season Recap: Champions!

Women's Soccer Season Recap: Champions!
Posted: Dec 11, 2019

Four years ago, Linda Hamilton welcomed the first recruiting class of her tenure as the head coach of the Southwestern University Pirates women's soccer team.

Mary Cardone, Romie Reyna, Mallory Harkins, and Katey Ewton arrived in Hamilton's second year with the program on a roster that finished 7-11-2 just a season earlier. The group immediately raised the bar, going 11-8 with an 8-4 conference record as starters in their first season.

On Nov. 10, 2019, they—along with senior Alexis Barrientez, a two-year transfer—put an exclamation mark on their time together with a double-overtime penalty kick shootout victory over the Trinity University Tigers to claim the first SCAC Championship in program history with Cardone finishing as the Tournament MVP.

"To watch them pour their heart and soul into something, to come through and finish their last year doing something no one at this school has ever done before, is special," Hamilton said. "I knew this senior class could, talent-wise, change the outcome of a game and, coupled with the talent and athleticism of our younger players, I felt this team could be special. But feeling it and doing it are different things."

For most of the past three decades, the Trinity University Tigers have held a stranglehold on the SCAC, having won 10 consecutive conference championships.

For two of the previous three seasons, the Pirates came as close as anyone, losing by a single goal in the 2016 and 2018 championship matches. Last year's loss was a particularly motivating moment, losing 1-0 while leaving several opportunities on the field.

"The group that was here and finished last year, we talked about the importance of being very motivated and disciplined over the summer," Hamilton said. "The group returned in the best shape we've had and even our first years came in very fit. When most of the team passed fitness on the first day, I felt this season could be something different.

"There was a goal set at the beginning of this season where they wanted rings but they weren't seeing the goal without realizing the hard work that goes into getting that."

Southwestern opened the season with a great mixture of senior leadership, especially on the defensive side of the field, and talented first years and sophomores carrying the load on offense. Competition for minutes was a driving force rather than a combustible one, pushing the Pirates to higher standards of play.

"Having that goal was a way that kept them motivated in practices," Hamilton said. "If each player is challenging each other to be their best, the whole team is challenging each other to be their best, the entire team's overall talent and success rate improves. They did such a great job off the field with their team chemistry, being supportive of each other."

That motivation set the Pirates on a torrid pace with a program-record seven consecutive wins to start the season, defeating Sul Ross State, St. Thomas, East Texas Baptist, Howard Payne, Texas Lutheran, Huston-Tillotson, and Johnson & Wales (Denver).

"I think starting the season on the record-setting streak we had allowed them, as a young team, to gain some confidence in themselves," Hamilton said. "There were games where we were down at halftime but came back and found a way to win."

In the midst of the winning streak, Hamilton earned her 100th career coaching victory in a 3-0 victory over the Texas Lutheran University Bulldogs.

In that match, first year Alexis Guajardo scored the first two goals of her collegiate career, sparking a brilliant debut season in which the forward from Brownsville, Texas led the Pirates in points with 18, scoring eight goals, including four game-winners, with two assists.

Southwestern box scores were filled with contributions from a roster of up-and-coming young players with first year Juliet Pridgen and sophomore Hallie Rutherford joining junior Maya Fuller in a three-way tie for second on the team in points with 15.

Guajardo earned a place on the All-SCAC First Team alongside seniors Cardone and Reyna, highlighting nine All-SCAC selections for the Pirates. Sophomore Samiah Varnell and Barrientez were All-SCAC Second Team and Fuller, Chapa, Pridgen, and Holmes earned honorable recognition.

Cardone and Reyna earned United Soccer Coaches All-West Region Second Team and Guajardo was named All-West Region Third Team.

"When you're part of a team, every single player has a role and it's amazing to have nine players on the three all-conference teams and three make all-region," Hamilton said. "Mary is the best [Division III] goalkeeper in the nation, I don't care what anyone says, and Romie is one of the best defensive players.

"But we also had some really outstanding performances from Alexis Guajardo and Maya Fuller. Karlee Holmes was brilliant for us over the course of the season, Juliet Pridgen as a young first year coming in and earning her place on the field scoring and assisting on key goals, and Alexis Barrientez came in a year ago as a transfer and really added to the program. I think this is the deepest team we've ever had and everyone contributed in some small way to our success."

If the early season success built a wave of confidence and momentum, a loss to the University of Dallas in the conference opener channeled it all into razor-sharp focus, giving the Pirates a dose of appropriate fear.

"Honestly, I think that slip up against the University of Dallas flipped a switch where I had to caution them that this is what this game is about," Hamilton said. "One small mistake and you could be out of the tournament. So, I think they realized how important it was to stay focused and stay the course of that hard work in practice to have those dividends pay in the games where they kept fighting, kept getting better, kept supporting each other."

The final three games before the NCAA Tournament revealed just how thing the margins of error can be and how expertly the Pirates operated within them, defeating Centenary in the last match of the regular season in double overtime to earn a first-round bye in the SCAC Tournament, defeating Centenary in the semifinals, and upending Trinity in penalty kicks to win the championship.

With that, the Pirates put a wrap to the greatest season in program history with a loss to Hardin-Simmons in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. For the senior class, it was the culmination of years of hard work raising the bar for the women's soccer team. For the program itself, this is only the end of the beginning of sorts, carrying a talented young team forward with hopes of a larger presence in the NCAA Tournament.

"Over the course of the season, my hope was this team was the best this program has ever put out. If there was a team that could do it, I felt this was the one," Hamilton said. "But I don't want this to be the pinnacle. This is the starting point to recognize we can do great things."