Soccer Celebrates 30 Years

THAT'S A KEEPER: More than half of the 30 years of Fighting Scots goalies were represented at the event. From left are Amanda Havens ’07, Samantha Barranco ’14, Erin Hook Tidd ’99, Colleen Shaughnessy ’00, Cassie Zelinske Day ’95 and Anna Caster ’25.MONMOUTH, Ill. – Monmouth College celebrated 30 years of women’s soccer with events before, during and after the Fighting Scots’ 4-1 victory over Rockford University Sept. 7.

I was happy to be part of the festivities, as my connection to the program spanned more than half of those three decades.

The event was the brainchild of current head coach Lucas Henderson, who began leading the Scots in intercollegiate games in 2021, following a season lost to COVID.

“The support at our match was wonderful, and to be able to spend some time with past coaches and influences of the program – Bill Urban, Simon Cordery, Barry McNamara, Dicky J and Jaime Godina – really deepened my appreciation for the tradition and pride our program has. It was an unforgettable experience.” – Lucas Henderson

“I was thrilled to see how many women’s soccer alumni came back to celebrate with us,” he said. “The support at our match was wonderful, and to be able to spend some time with past coaches and influences of the program – Bill Urban, Simon Cordery, Barry McNamara, Dicky J and Jaime Godina – really deepened my appreciation for the tradition and pride our program has. It was an unforgettable experience.”

MEMORY LANE: Colleen Shaughnessy '00 peruses an old Ravelings yearbook, while the coach from her playing days, Simon Cordery, looks on.Bill, who taught history at Monmouth for nearly 50 years, got soccer started at Monmouth in the 1970s and was also instrumental as the notion for a women’s team picked up steam in the early 1990s. Simon, now a history professor at Iowa State University, was the first official coach, leading the team from 1994-2000.

Dicky J – also known as business and economics professor Dick Johnston – and Jaime both coached with me for 10 of the 13 seasons and 228 games that I was in charge of the program.

An outstanding event

Prior to the game, Scots standout Samantha Barranco ’14 gave a pep talk to Lucas’ team. At halftime, the returning players and coaches were introduced to the large crowd, and those individuals returned to the field after the game to interact with the players and pose for a group picture.

One of the players from the first days of women’s soccer at Monmouth is Jeani Randall Talbott ’95, who now serves her alma mater as a development officer.

GOOOOOOOAL: Sophomore Danielle Beach put Monmouth ahead 1-0 with this strike in the 13th minute.“I think the event was outstanding,” she said. “One highlight for me was the interaction between the alums and the current players. As an alum, I felt great pride in the current team, and I felt the pride coming back to us. They expressed their appreciation for us being there to support them and for helping the team get to where they are today.”

Jeani also noted she enjoyed hearing the coaches speak, as Simon and I each took turns at the podium, along with Jeani and Holly Drelicharz Gould ’93, who had graduated before the team gained official varsity status but was a driving force in the creation of the program.

“I loved hearing the funny stories, but also about the progression of each season to get us where we are today,” said Jeani.

Following Brandi Chastain

When I spoke, I started with my first involvement with the program in 1999, starting about two months after Brandi Chastain did her thing as the U.S. women won the World Cup. At first, I attended games in my role as Monmouth’s co-sports information director. Four years later, I was on the sidelines for every game, with a goal of building upon the foundation started by Simon and added to by Sarah Comeaux, who coached the 2001 and 2002 seasons.

“I loved hearing the funny stories, but also about the progression of each season to get us where we are today.” – Jeani Talbott

Due to factors beyond her control, Sarah’s first year wasn’t pretty, but to her immense credit, she got to work on the recruiting trail, persuading several talented players to come to Monmouth for the ’02 season – most notably the Horneck twins from Oregon, Amy and Abby, as well as two more four-year starters, Audrey Stoffel and Kathleen Heinrich.

By the time those players were seniors in 2005, we’d added enough talent around them to reach the Midwest Conference playoffs for the first time in program history.

A few years later came what I called “a golden era” for the program, with three playoff appearances in four years, with Samantha – who will be inducted into the M Club Hall of Fame during Homecoming festivities Oct. 5 – leading the way, along with several talented members of her class. Each of those three seasons was special to me, but our 2012 campaign created the most buzz among the returning players, as they recalled our seven-game MWC winning streak to qualify for the playoffs after an 0-2-1 start in league play.

I concluded my remarks by mentioning the crowning achievement of my successor, Nick Rizzo, who in 2019 led the program to its first NCAA tournament berth by virtue of Monmouth’s penalty kick shootout victory over Knox.

Which pretty much catches everything up to the present. Lucas brought in a very strong recruiting class this year, and those freshmen are meshing well with his returners. But even after this season’s upperclassmen have graduated, I’m excited to see what’s in store for his first-year players, who have all the makings of those talented classes that reached the MWC playoffs years ago. I think another golden era is in the works.

PAST AND PRESENT: Following their 4-1 victory over Rockford University, current team members posed with the players and coaches who returned to campus for the 30th anniversary celebration.