Soccer bids farewell to senior class
Many, if not all of us, recognize the famous saying, “All good things must come to an end.” It appears that this also is true for the Rice Owls soccer team who bid farewell to a group of five talented seniors.
With a loss in the opening round of the Conference USA tournament this past Wednesday in Miami, FL, the 2015 campaign concluded with a 10-7-2 record. The senior class brought home two C-USA championships during their time at Rice and depart holding numerous team records and individual school records.
Entering as the No. 4 seed of the tournament, Rice played the No. 5 seed, Middle Tennessee State University, a team in which they battled to a 0-0 double overtime draw earlier in the season. The game shaped out be very similar to the first in that Rice held the clear advantage in shots with 21-10 but could not find the back of the net. In the 78th minute of the match, Middle Tennessee forward Grace Summers hit the top right corner of the goal from just outside the 18-yard box to give the Blue Riders 1-0 lead. The C-USA defensive player of the season and goalkeeper Kelsey Brouwer proved why she was selected when she registered nine saves on the day. The Owls continued to fight getting off five shots in the final 11 minutes but never found the equalizer.
Middle Tennessee was eliminated in the semifinal round of the tournament by the No. 2 seed Marshall University two days later. Regular season champions, the University of North Texas went on to defeat Marshall in the championship game of the tournament on Sunday to take home the 2015 trophy.
The season for the Owls was one of ups and downs for the preseason Conference USA favorites. The club was coming off a 14-win season in which Head Coach Nicky Adams was named C-USA Coach of the Year while senior forward Lauren Hughes was awarded Offensive Player of the Year honors. The club also welcomed six freshmen and one transfer who all made impacts in one way or another this season.
The Owls soared to a hot start to the season, opening with a 4-1-1 record through their first six games. Over that span, Rice’s only loss came at the hands of No. 5 nationally ranked Texas A&M University. After one stretch in September saw the Owls lose three games out of four, Rice fell to a 5-4-1 record. The month of October was much better for Rice as they rattled off four wins in their next five games to improve the record to 9-5-1.
However, Hughes was a consistent piece all season for the Owls, playing up to her preseason expectation earning 2015 Co-Offensive Player of the Year. Hughes led the team and the entire conference with ten assists on the season and also scored ten goals on the season, five of which were game winners. She is just the third player in Rice school history to be tabbed First-Team All-Conference three times in her career. She is ending her career holding school records in goals (39), assists (28) and points (106), among numerous other accolades.
Senior forward Holly Hargreaves, a four-year starter for the Owls, set a magnificent record earlier in her career by starting every single game of her Rice career from freshman year through junior year, a streak of 60 matches. Hargreaves is finishing second in school history in goals with 32, trailing only behind Hughes in the record books. She has tallied 5,993 minutes as an Owl and also holds the school record for goals scored in one game, with four goals last season against Louisiana Tech University.
Yet another star player for the Owls, senior midfielder Danielle Spriggs, has started 52 of her last 54 games for the Rice Owls from the outside midfielder position. Known for her hard style of play and lengthy runs, Spriggs was crucial throughout her Rice career in setting up Hughes and Hargreaves up top with good looks on goal. Spriggs registered three goals and four assists this season.
The Owls squad earned a total of six conference awards for their efforts. Hughes was named First-Team All-Conference for a third straight season. Sophomore midfielder Samantha Chaiken and senior defender Jasmine Isokpunwu earned All-Conference Second Team honors. Hargreaves and junior defender Jenny Fichera both earned All-Conference Third Team honors. Freshman midfielder Dominique Mazero was named to the all-freshman squad.
Head Coach Nicky Adams talked about the season in general as well as highlighted some of the greatest moments of the season.
“Overall this has been a very positive season,” Adams said. “In 2014 we lost some key players in key positions and I am proud of how some our players stepped up in some new roles. This season started off with a bang being able to host the No. 3 team in the country at the time, Texas A&M. We [also] scored some unbelievable goals this year: a diving header vs. Arkansas by [Walker] and a tying goal vs. FAU with five seconds left on the clock by [Isokpunwu], just to name a few.
Adams had many positive things to say about her senior class and will remember them for being such great ambassadors for Rice University.
“This senior class will always be extremely special to me [because] this is the first class we recruited when I became the head coach,” Adams said. “All of these players have provided us with some of the most unbelievable moments on the field, but every single one of these young ladies have [also] been an amazing ambassador for Rice University. I am sure we will see a few of these players in the Rice Hall of Fame in the future.”
Adams and her coaching staff are already focused towards next season and bringing home a conference title in 2016.
“We do have quite a few younger players for 2016, but they all gained such valuable experience this fall,” Adams said. “The coaching staff is extremely excited to work this spring with this team [because] we have some amazing talent. We are looking forward to really pushing them and testing them this upcoming spring season to be the best they can be.”
Team captain Danielle Spriggs believes strongly in the rise of the Rice Owls program moving forward long after her graduation.
“I am really excited for the future of this program,” Spriggs said. “I know the program has all the tools that they need to succeed, with great coaches, players and with the facilities coming along. I see conference championships becoming an annual thing for this program and [deep] NCAA runs [to match].”
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