Women’s Soccer’s postseason hopes came down to the final game against Lynchburg last Saturday.
After Lynchburg scored on a penalty kick late in the first half, the score was 1-0 heading into halftime.
At the break, Head Coach Erin Saleeby talked about never giving up.
“It was difficult to concede a penalty, but those things happen,” she said. “We still had 45 minutes together on the field, and we needed to be us in that time.”
In the second half Lynchburg added another goal to make it 2-0.
But the game came down to the final seconds after senior Kayla Fedison scored in the 88th minute.
When the team couldn’t find a second goal, it resulted in a 2-1 loss, ending their season.
“We didn’t talk too much about the performance, but I thought we played well,” Saleeby said. “That was the number two team in the conference, and it ended 2-1 with more than a few chances to tie or win that game.”
Saleeby has spoken highly about this senior class all season, and the emotions ran high knowing it was their final games.
“I was very emotional after the game. It’s always really tough to say goodbye to the season and to the seniors, but this time it was even harder,” Saleeby said. “Eight seniors is a lot, but also it was a tough way to end a historic season. The team was emotional, too. They really wanted to win, and they wanted to continue the season.”
This season saw the team begin the year 11-0–the best start in a Women’s Soccer season ever on campus–beat Greensboro for the first time in nine seasons, and notched 13 wins out of the 19 games played–also the most ever in a Women’s Soccer season on campus.
Senior Bri Bitz led the ODAC in goals (19), Shots on Goal (48), and points (44).
Senior Ashlynn Mitcham was fifth in the conference with 10 goals and 24 points.
Junior Ashli Wuss held the second highest save percentage (.866) with 116 saves to only 18 goals allowed.
When one season ends, it’s time to look at what’s next.
For Women’s Soccer that is the transition to D-II and Conference Carolinas.
“We have to have a really good spring with making the team stronger in the weight room and better on the field and continue to buy into the program,” Saleeby said. “We already have some really strong commits for next year, but filling the shoes of those seniors will still be difficult.”
As the team makes the transition, Saleeby hopes the underclassmen can pick up on the ground work the seniors laid out for them.
“I hope that they see how great of leaders they were. Teams thrive when they have good leadership, and we had that this year,” Saleeby said. “I hope that they see how much everything we did as a program was important–from summer workouts to service projects to forced family fun. It is all part of the experience, and it all makes us better on and off the field. I also want them to see that if you stay, work hard, and buy in, you can be really special as a team.”
Looking back on the season, Saleeby said she takes time to reflect on its entirety.
“This one is still very raw for me. We set a few different records and beat some teams we haven’t beaten in a long time, but we fell short of the conference tournament,” Saleeby said. “We had a few different goals as a team, and making the tournament was one of them. I’m sad we didn’t make it, but mostly I am just really proud of the team.”
Saleeby added she felt that the team could play with anyone.
“We were more competitive this year in the ODAC than we have been in a long time,” Saleeby said. “I think the future of Ferrum Women’s Soccer is really bright.”
