Lady Archers soccer team wins Region XVI Title
By: Spencer Gleason
-Sports Editor-
It was a historic moment for the STLCC Lady Archers on the soccer field in Independence, Mo. on Oct. 21. When the final minute had finished on the clock, the score read STLCC, one, Metropolitan Community College- Maple Woods, zero. The 2012 Lady Archer soccer team had just won the Region XVI Tournament for the first time in their history.
Following the STLCC Archer men’s and women’s basketball teams Region XVI Titles last season, the Lady Archer soccer team is only the third STLCC team to accomplish such a feat in the short athletic history of the STLCC Archers.
Although the season started with a record of 0-2-1 on the road, when the Lady Archers began playing on their home field, they went on a 10-game winning streak.
“It obviously took awhile to make sure that we got all those components to work together,” Lady Archer head coach Juergen Huettner said before their ninth consecutive win. “I think four or five games into the season it slowly kicked in. It is nice to see now that they play very well together.”
The roster that holds seven sophomores and 14 freshmen currently sit with an overall record of 15-3-1.
“You do not get the feeling that this is a team that is dominate with freshmen. It does not look like an inexperienced team,” Huettner said. “It looks like a team that has been together for a long time. It does not feel like a junior college team in it’s first year. It is almost like a four-year school. It feels like a bunch of juniors and seniors on the team.”
The Lady Archers now await the winner of the Region 24 Tournament, from Illinois, to play in the District Tournament. The winner of the District Tournament will move on to the National Tournament.
The four teams remaining in the Region 24 Tournament are Heartland Community College, Parkland College, Southwest Illinois College and Kaskaskia.
In the regular season, the Lady Archers defeated three of the four remaining teams, losing to Parkland College, 2-1, in overtime on Oct. 9 — their only loss in a stretch of 14 games to end the regular season.
Before the season started in August, Huettner was hopeful that this would be a memorable season. He was optimistic the 2012 Lady Archers would put STLCC on the map.
“I think that if this team has some luck come their way and we play the way I think we are capable of playing,” Huettner said in August, “I think that there would be nothing wrong to say that this team could be one of the STLCC women’s soccer teams that picks up on some glory days back in the 1990s. My dream would be that we have a long postseason run.”
With the Region XVI Title, the Lady Archers are one step closer to their coach’s prediction.
