The University of St. Thomas Women's Soccer team released its fall 2022 schedule. The season will feature 18 contests, 14 of which are SCAC matchups. They will also have nine home games across Houston Sports Park and Aveva Stadium.
Like last season, the Celts will open their season against Howard Payne University. They will look to avenge the 5-4 loss before they open up conference play against Centenary. Then will wrap up out of conference play against Sul Ross State, McMurry, and Concordia.
In the SCAC, the Celts will look to make the tournament for the first time. Two of their wins last season came against Texas Lutheran, where St. Thomas picked up their first two program victories against the Bulldogs. This proved significant as TLU finished fourth, behind Dallas, #16 Trinity, and Southwestern.
St. Thomas will return all of its all-conference performers in 2022. Leading this group will be Seniors Mary Pham and Karson Funderburk who earned second-team honors. Senior Kelsie Droptini and Brooke Le also picked up an honorable mention. Finally, Kayla Tomlinson was named to the all-freshman team.
Offensively, Funderburk will look to spark the Celt attack. She led the team last season with eight points, notching two goals and playing every game. Karson will anchor a forward line that includes Emily McCoy and Brooke Le.
Defensively, goalkeeper Briana Salinas will look to build upon her success last season. In the cage, she posted both of the Celt victories and two of the three ties. Her outstanding nine-save performance against ETBU notched her SCAC defensive player of the week honors.
Head Coach Nick Morrison returns for his fourth season leading UST Women's Soccer. He was hired when St. Thomas initially joined NCAA Division III in 2019. With the Celts' NCAA provisional period ending, Morrison and his squad will now have the opportunity to compete for a national title.
"We are excited about this upcoming season and building off of the success that we ended the year with last Fall," Nick Morrison said. "With the addition of 13 new players and some new additions to our coaching staff, we are ready to get off to a quick start and excited about the potential of this team and program going forward."
To view the full schedule click here!
For more information on UST Women's Soccer, follow the team on Instagram (@ustwsoccer) and Twitter (@ustwsoccer). Scores and updates will also be posted on our official UST athletics social media channels.
