St. Kate’s Wildcats Soccer Team Kicks Off Another Strong Season

Oct 14

Oct 14 St. Kate’s Wildcats Soccer Team Kicks Off Another Strong Season

By Ella Tracy

The St. Kate’s soccer team is part way through their season with an overall record of 7-2-2. The team’s primary goal this season is to make it to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoff season and ultimately win. Briana Heneman, ‘26 (Biology, Premed) said that the team is “practicing everyday with intensity and purpose” to achieve their goal.

Head Coach Jesse Campos said that with the team’s current record, they are “in great position to earn [their] 9th consecutive playoff appearance,” which would be a new record. Campos highlighted the ”tremendous leadership from an experienced and accomplished upper-class” of Captains Mallory Johnson, Ari Green, Kal Tuominen, Maren Schoeberl and senior goalkeeper Kate Praetz, who have led the team through 3 consecutive championship seasons. The captains are “determined to put this team in a position to compete for a 4th title in 2024.”

The team added 9 new players this year, creating a roster of 33 players, which is the largest in Wildcat history. Campos said that the team is spending time developing all 33 players this year by adding junior varsity games to the schedule and creating small group skill development sessions outside of regular practice. “As opposed to being 1 of 33 in a learning environment, they can be 1 of 4 and get our full attention,” Campos explained.

Campos said that a unique part of the St. Kate’s soccer program is how strong of a team effort every win is. “We don’t really have ONE star player that scores all of the goals, we have 3-4 that are capable of finding the back of the net, which makes us hard to defend,” he said. Last year, the team was top 3 in the National Collegiate Athletic Association for shutout victories (a game where the opposing team did not score). Campos added, “In some games we have used more than 20 players to secure the victory, which says a lot about the talent coming off the bench and how bright the future of the program will be.”

Wildcats soccer also places a huge emphasis on community and team-building. Natalie Pfleger, ‘26 (Exercise & Sports Science, Pre-OT), recent recipient of the MIAC Athlete of the Week award, said that she chose to play soccer at St. Kate’s “because of the welcoming environment from the team and coaching staff.”

Heneman, Pfleger and Campos highlighted how unique it is that the team spends so much time together on and off the field. They described a sense of family and a home away from home that is found in the team. Heneman said that the team is a “group of girls who genuinely care about you and support you through everything.” Pfleger said that she finds “so much joy going to practice and games knowing I get to compete in the sport that I love with my best friends. Both players said that the team enjoys activities like karaoke, bonfires, study sessions, and attending other sports games to bond outside of practices.

The team plays Carleton on Saturday, Oct. 12. Find the rest of their schedule online at https://stkatesathletics.com/sports/womens-soccer.