The last time the Southwestern women's soccer team played a fall game at varsity field, they hoisted the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Championship trophy for the first time in program history.
When Southwestern takes the pitch for the season opener, it'll be with a relieved sense of normalcy in a year that has been anything but.
"What's been the toughest is athletes losing 18 months of a normal college career," Southwestern head women's soccer coach Linda Hamilton says of college athletics during the global pandemic. "It was difficult to stay motivated, difficult to stay fit, difficult even to find others to play. But, to our credit, attitudes have been great, and we're fortunate to have a regular fall season finally."
Twelve players remain from that championship roster, including 2019 starters Juliana Chapa, Samiah Varnell, Juliet Pridgen, Sam Davis, Karlee Holmes, and Alexis Guajardo. The Pirates also return championship contributors Whitney Whitehill, Hanna Sanderson, Ella Ruehr, Sydney Kattawar, Hannah Hall, and backup goalkeeper Elyssia Salas among the upperclassmen.
Eight of those 12 juniors and seniors have earned All-SCAC recognition at some point in their careers. Davis, Kattawar, and Guajardo have all been first-team all-conference. Sanderson, Chapa, and Varnell boast second-team accolades, and Pridgen and Holmes each have an honorable mention nod.
"This program has been able to accomplish a lot of firsts in recent years, starting with the championship," Hamilton says. "I hope for our upperclassmen we can continue to build on that."
For Hamilton, the 2019 SCAC Championship wasn't the culmination of years of work but the beginning of the next phase of the program. Southwestern has 16 returning players, including four sophomores.
This year's roster will have 20 talented incoming freshmen.
"The freshmen outnumber the returners. The freshmen know it, the returners know it," Hamilton says. "We have a large incoming class we're delighted to have. They're really talented. It's not about age on my team. I wouldn't be surprised to see six or even eight of them find their way into the starting lineup. As many as 15 could have an impact."
Freshmen Yamila Lara, Lilly Van Meter, Samantha Hazen, Laren Gradt, and Sydney Boswell headline a talented group of newcomers expected to contribute immediately.
"They've brought a lot to the team. There's a lot of new talent," sophomore defender Kate Nguyen, a member of the 2020-21 SCAC All-Freshman Team, says. "Practice has been exciting, seeing what our team could be this year."
The young quintet will contribute to a front six that features Guajardo, an All-Region selection at forward in 2019, all-conference forwards Pridgen and Holmes, and Kattawar, who was an All-SCAC first-team midfielder last season.
"One of the things we've done really well the past couple of seasons is spread the scoring out," Hamilton explains. "We've had 8-to-10 different goal scorers the past few years, which makes it really difficult to focus on one player."
Southwestern likes to play a possession-oriented attack style with a high press on defense, building possessions out of the backfield through midfield with plenty of improvisation in the attacking third. At the foundation of it all is an experienced defensive backline.
Davis, one of last year's two team captains, returns to bring continuity of leadership in her senior year. She's joined by fellow senior defenders Sanderson and Varnell, along with junior Chapa, bringing years of experience forming a formidable defensive wall in the SCAC.
"We're very blessed with our returning talent, especially with our seniors," Hall, a junior midfielder, says. "They set the standard for everyone, and that makes our team better."
Behind them is goalkeeper Johnna Campbell, who earned All-SCAC honorable mention after starting all eight games in the net for Southwestern, posting a 6-2 record with 37 saves on a .860 save percentage and five consecutive shutout victories before a loss in the SCAC Tournament semifinals.
The mix of new and experienced is reminiscent of the 2019 roster, with this year's juniors and seniors now the guiding hands.
"The returners are the foundation," Hamilton says. "Having that leadership with youth is going to help us grow. Of course, we will have some ups and downs, but I'm okay with that. It's a journey to be at our peak for conference play."
The return of a full 17-game regular-season schedule buys Hamilton time to experiment with different lineups, flexing Southwestern's newfound depth as opposed to adjusting on the fly to COVID protocols.
"Last year was weird. First, we had some people graduate in the fall, then we had a COVID outbreak towards the end of the season," Hall recalls. "The hardest thing to deal with was the number of people who couldn't play due to COVID. But, then, we only had eight games, and they all counted, so if we messed up, that was that."
The expanded schedule allows Southwestern to play regional powerhouses like the University of Texas-Dallas in the season opener or a rematch against NCAA Tournament first-round opponent Hardin-Simmons.
"It's going to take some time for our new players to adjust to the speed of play, the quick decision-making, and the lack of time and space. At the club level, you have that half-second if your touch is not quite right. In college, that's gone," Hamilton says. "I feel like we improve every year, and on paper, I feel like this is the most talented group we've had. The returning players are getting better, and our level continues to improve."
A lot has changed since Southwestern upset Trinity in penalty kicks in 2019, but the goal remains the same: to hoist the SCAC Championship trophy in November.