Women’s soccer draws in season finale, pink match
The University of Indianapolis women’s soccer team took on the Saint Joseph’s College Pumas for its final regular season match at Key Stadium on Oct. 30. The match ended in a 0-0 tie after double overtime, officially ending the Hounds’ 2013 season.
The Greyhounds had 18 shots on goal for the night, but could not get one inside the net. Head Women’s Soccer Coach Kiley Cirillo said such results cannot always be controlled.
Junior goalkeeper Megan Fee dives for a save against the Saint Joseph’s College Pumas on Oct. 30 at Key Stadium. The match ended in a tie after two overtimes.
“We played a great 60 minutes, and we could just not find the back of the net,” Cirillo said. “Sometimes the best team does not always win. That’s just soccer, unfortunately.”
Of the 18 shots attempted, senior midfielder Kaitlyn Braunig had five. In fact, Braunig is the team leader for gamewinning goals and points for the season.
“She stepped up and did some major things that go [on] behind the scenes, that no one else sees. Game winning goals and points are important, but that is not [Braunig’s] role. She is supposed to give the ball for people to score. She took that upon herself. She’s an irreplaceable piece that you never get back. You can’t recruit that,” Cirillo said.
As a senior looking back upon her statistical performances, Braunig said she believes she has met most of her goals for the season.
“Coming into every season, it is uncertain how it will be. So I am thankful I had so much time in the games. However, it’s still October, and we’re done playing. So there’s always going to be that feeling that I’m not satisfied, because we’re already done,” Braunig said.
Cirillo said that despite being unsatisfied with how quickly the season came to an end, both the coaches and the players feel some sense of accomplishment.
“Our expectations are the same for every year: win as many ball games as you can. I don’t know who said it first, but ‘show me someone who’s content, and I’ll show you a loser.’ We’re not content,” he said. “I’m not going to take anything away from the girls because we had some major adversity this year through injuries. So what we did achieve that you don’t see on paper or inside a record are some amazing things. These girls fought every day for us, and I’m not going to take anything away from them.”
Braunig said that even though the season did not finish the way they wanted, the Greyhounds had some impressive moments during the season.
“We had some huge wins in there in those six wins. And even some of those ties, like Quincy [University] and [University of Wisconsin] Parkside, make you sit back and reflect,” Braunig said.
Although Braunig will not be returning next year for the Greyhounds, she said that she still has high hopes for the team’s future.
“There are some little things that they can fix for next year and build upon for next season. I’m not worried about them next year at all,” she said.
The Greyhounds finished the 2013 season 6-8-4 overall, 5-6-4 in GLVC play.
