"We are excited to get back on the field and begin playing in competitions again," said head coach Julie Woodward. "As a coach you always want a better record, but we played seven teams that went to the NCAA Tournament and beat two of them. Last season we played a much stronger schedule with better teams and have stepped up in terms of our play and progression."
The two qualifying teams SeattleU defeated were Boise State and UC Santa Barbara. They kicked off the 2009 campaign with the Broncos at home and earned a 1-0 shutout victory on Aug. 21. Nearly a month later, this time in Santa Barbara, Calif., they earned a 3-2 double overtime thriller over UCSB on Oct. 18. Junior Kara Kuttler (Redmond, Wash.), who scored the game-winner in the 104th minute of play, cemented herself in the Redhawk record books with the goal. With 10 goals on the year, including a pair of game-winners, she landed herself in the top-10 all-time goal scorers with 20 career goals in three seasons. In 19 straight starts, she also added three assists for 23 points on the year.
"Kara is an unbelievable player and a high level thinker," said head coach Julie Woodward. "She is a competitor and scored a ton of goals against great teams in 2009."
Up top with Kuttler, was veteran and senior tri-captain Jamie Coe (Duvall, Wash.). The senior concluded her collegiate career with 18 career goals, behind three goals in 2009. During her senior season she also added four assists, including a pair of game-winning dishes. In 68 career games played, she made seven assists and three game-winning goals.
"Jamie is a good leader and an amazing captain for the team," Woodward said. "She really contributed and turned it up a notch towards the end of the season to end her career on a good note. She has been an important part of the team and helped us a lot this year.
In the midfield, fellow tri-captain Jamie Peterson (Bellevue, Wash.) kicked off the season with the game-winning goal over Boise State on Aug. 21. The goal was also the first of her career. In 18 games played, the senior scored two goals and was a consistent presence in the midfield for the Redhawks. On her career, she played in 45 games and also had an assist.
"Jamie is an unbelievable leader and has an incredible work ethic," commented Woodward. "I think her improvement over her four years at SeattleU amazing. She had a couple great goals for us and her self-motivation to improve in the off season paid dividends for her on the field."
Playing alongside Peterson was a flurry of players, who each were able to bring energy to the field. Fellow senior M'ily Reiter (Billings, Mont.) was a player who was called on to consistently contribute and answered that call. After transferring to SU from Eastern Washington for her sophomore season, she has progressed into solid collegiate players. On the year, Reiter scored a goal in 18 games played. On her career, she scored two goals and made an assist in 49 games played.
"M'ily was a consistent starter for us and she brought a lot to the field," said Woodward. "In terms of her play, she's pretty creative and a quick high level thinker. She definitely stood out to us this season."
Alongside the pair of seniors was a trio sophomores: Taylor Fannin (Yakima, Wash.), Alicia Malstrom (Salem, Ore.) and Kassandra Riozzi (Marysville, Wash.). Fannin, who scored her first career goal versus Eastern Washington on Aug. 31, made it a memorable one as it was the game-winner. After getting SeattleU on the board, she sealed the victory by passing off an assist to Kuttler to make it a 2-0 win at Championship Field.
Following a standout freshman campaign where she started in all 20 games, Riozzi returned to the pitch ready to build upon her four goals and five assists during the 2008 season. Unfortunately for the center midfielder, she suffered an injury that prevented her from playing in five games during the middle of the season. In 14 games played, she had three assists and a goal.
Rounding out the sophomores in the middle was Malstrom, who saw action in 17 games, including four starts. She became a consistent spark plug for the Redhawks and dished off the game-winning assist on Kuttler's double-overtime goal at UCSB on Oct. 18.
Woodward had a stocked midfield, as four freshmen vied for time at the position, as well. Newcomers: Taylor Bolibol (Woodinville, Wash.), Maddy Cartwright (Salt Lake City, Utah), who scored her first career goal versus Utah Valley on Aug. 28, Liana Heberer (Oceanside, Calif.) and Chelsea Jennings (Tacoma, Wash.), who solidified the Redhawks 3-1 victory over Utah State on Sept. 20, each spent time in the midfield.
"I think the midfielders did a great job," Woodward said. "I think their position this year, for the most part, was very interesting because we had a number of people who could play in the midfield. I'd like to think it kept it pretty competitive from game-to-game and travel team-to-travel team."
Moving to the backline, SU was anchored by veteran tri-captain Kate Edstrom (Portland, Ore.), who has started every game of her college career. Behind 80 straight starts on the field, she developed into a strong leader both on and off the field. Edstrom concluded her Redhawk career after helping lead SeattleU to 35 shutouts, including four in 2009. She also got in on the offensive game during her four seasons, tallying seven assists and a goal.
"Kate is going to be hard to replace," said Woodward. "I think all of the team is fabulous, but she's the whole package. She's a great leader, athlete, teammate and captain. She works hard day in and day out and always puts the team first. She started in every game all of her four years at SeattleU, which is a pretty unbelievable stat."
Alongside the veteran was junior Nance Hill (Mercer Island, Wash.) and sophomore Jordan Salisbury (Federal Way, Wash.) who played in central defense. The duo guided the SU defense and kept pace against the strong DI squads the Redhawks faced throughout the season. They too were integral in SeattleU's four shutouts on the year.
At left back, freshman Carlee Norquist (Boise, Idaho) made an immediate impact in the Redhawk defense. She was the only newcomer to start in all 19 games and played primarily on the backline. She did move up and play at the wing, giving minutes to sophomore Renee Vandermause (Colbert, Wash.), who made her collegiate debut in 2009.
Also, making their debut was classmate Brynn Watanabe (Bellevue, Wash.) who spent time in the defense and at central defense in the midfield. Fellow sophomore Lauren Munechika (Sammamish, Wash.) saw action in eight games off the bench. She scored SU's game-winner on Aug. 28, versus Utah Valley in the Redhawks 2-0 shutout.
Between the posts, sophomore Madison Goverde (Snohomish, Wash.) earned all 19 starts at goal. She tallied four shutouts, including starting off the season with back-to-back shutouts. She had a 1.24 goals against average and posted 91 saves on the year.
Following their first DI season, SeattleU will begin to prepare for the upcoming 2010 season. They will begin their spring schedule this Saturday, Feb. 27, when they take on Boise State at 10:30 a.m. and Idaho at 4 p.m. in Pasco, Wash. The Redhawks will square off with 10 teams during the spring, including six opponents from 2009.
They will return to Championship Field to host the Vancouver Whitecaps on Friday, Mar. 5, at 3:30 p.m., for their only game in the month of March. They will pick up action in April with a pair of games on Saturday, April 10, at home. SU will square off with Portland State at 11 a.m. and a team to be determined at 3 p.m.
SeattleU will travel to the other side of the state to take on Gonzaga in Spokane, Wash. on Sunday, April 18, at 10 a.m. In the afternoon they will face off with Eastern Washington at 3 p.m. in Cheney, Wash.
On Saturday, April 24, the Redhawks will host Concordia (Ore.) at 12:30 p.m. and Western Washington at 4 p.m. They will conclude the spring schedule with cross-town rival the University of Washington. SeattleU will take on the Huskies on Friday, April 30, in a 5:30 p.m. game at the Starfire Soccer Complex in Tukwila, Wash.