Looking Back, Looking Ahead
WATERTOWN, Wis. -- The 2019 season for the Sabercats Women's Soccer Team was - to put it broadly - memorable.
This morning, the Maranatha Athletic Department hosted the annual Athletic Awards Assembly, and it gave everyone a chance to relive the recently ended fall seasons.
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Looking Back, Looking Forward
It started with a coaching transition, as Jeff Pill (Interim Head Coach), Matt Sheeley (Associate Head Coach), and Alyssa Wright (Assistant Coach) stepped in to fill the coaching responsibilities. Next, the Sabercats went 4-3 at home during the season, posting four shutout wins on the MBU Campus.
Another highlight was a 1-0 home win over Faith Baptist Bible College, who would eventually go on to win the North Region and finish in third at NCCAA Nationals.
From a team perspective, the Sabercats had multiple looks to their starting lineup, even though this year's team only had 17 players on the roster - one or two fewer than prior seasons. So a relatively "shallow" pool of student-athletes adjusted their formation and lineup to fit the needs of the game and to prove an ability to adapt that exceeded their depth chart.
But you can't talk about a season without mentioning the ending, and unfortunately for the Sabercats, the ending was all too familiar. It was an overtime loss to Providence at NCCAA Regionals. For the third year in a row, the Pilots broke Sabercat hearts in sudden-death in the NCCAA postseason.
But like previous years, that loss could be fuel to the fire. This year's team had 11 underclassmen on the roster, and with just two four-year players, next year certainly brings promise.
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At a Glance
- Record: 6-9-0
- NCCAA Record: 3-3-0
- NCCAA Finish: Regional Semifinal
- Home Record: 4-3-0
- Notable: Two seniors, 11 underclassmen on the roster
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Awards
At this morning's Athletic Awards Assembly, the Sabercats announced their team awards, which are based on the team's CORE BELIEF DOCUMENT. In addition to these honors, the student-athletes earned awards from the National Christian College Athletic Association.
A complete breakdown of the awards is listed below:
| CORE BELIEF AWARDS | RECIPIENT |
| Excellence Award | Hannah Evans |
| Character Award | Angel Steuerwald |
| Family Award | Karissa Nelson |
| Coaches' Award | Gabrielle Torres |
| Christlikeness Award | Amy Montgomery |
| NCCAA All-Region Selections | |
| Hannah Evans (Honorable Mention) | McKenna Hendrickson |
| Amy Montgomery | Alexis Sponable |
| NCCAA All-American 2nd Team Selection | |
| Amy Montgomery | |
| NCCAA Scholar-Athletes (JR, SR, GS only) | |
| McKenna Hendrickson | Leah Ng |
| Alexis Sponable |
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For more on the program, visit their team page HERE.
