With the largest incoming first year class, a football team, and now the women’s soccer team making university history, 2012 proves memorable to all Cougars.
Head coach Mark Stauffer and his team set a goal to make it to the Final Four in 2012, after losing early in the national tournament in 2011. With hard work and experience, players achieved their goal.
“It was an experience of a lifetime,” Stauffer said. “It is something these girls will never forget.”
Despite a loss to Messiah, Stauffer said he counts it a winning season. “I couldn’t be more proud of the team and the accomplishments they have achieved.”
Ssenior captain Sam Helmstetter is celebrating her opportunity to play in a Final Four game after four years of striving.
“It feels incredible. I’m glad the hard work I’ve put in on and off the field over the last four years has paid off.”
Because the women’s team lost only one senior in 2011, players had a year to develop chemistry.
“I wouldn’t have wanted to share this experience with any other team in the country but this team,” she said. “The experience was more than I expected, we really were treated like royalty. It was an amazing feeling.”
Helmstetter credits the support from the university, friends and family with much of their success.
“It honestly doesn’t even feel real. The support we received this year between our coaches, our fans, and the student body here at MU made the experience even more enjoyable. It’s definitely something I’ll remember for the rest of my life and knowing that it goes down in the schools history books makes it that much better.”
First year Devin Simpson said he, too, will always remember San Antonio.
“Coming in I didn’t really know what to expect, but as the season went on I realized we could make it pretty far,” she said. “There were so many mixed emotions. I was really excited but nervous at the same time.”