University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Women’s Soccer 2018 Year in Review
1/7/2019 3:43:00 PM | Women's Soccer
A look back at the most historic season in the history of the program
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The 2018 season marked the best season in the history of the Southern Miss women's soccer program. The season was all about breaking records and taking the program to new heights.
The Golden Eagles finished the season with an overall record of 13-6-1, notching the most wins ever recorded by any Southern Miss women's soccer team. Southern Miss also made major strides in C-USA play as well, finishing the season with a conference record of 5-4-1, the best conference record posted by the Golden Eagles in nearly two decades.
During regular season play, Southern Miss defeated both Western Kentucky and FIU for the first time in the history of the program by final scores of 1-0 and 3-0, respectively.
The Golden Eagles' 1-0 victory against Western Kentucky on September 16 helped set the tone for the season as they kicked off conference play with a huge win. Sophomore midfielder and team-leading goal scorer Miah Zuazua netted the lone goal of the match in overtime play, leading the Golden Eagles to victory.
Sophomores JoAnnie Ramos, Keely Hoppmeyer and Caitlin Pierce along with freshmen Olivia Durham and Rana Hussein each scored the first goals of their Southern Miss careers over the span of the 2018 season.
One of Ramos' three goals scored on the season came in a regular season contest against Grambling State that proved to be a difference-maker, as Southern Miss won the match by a final score of 4-3.
Durham, a freshman midfielder who proved to be a key contributor for the Golden Eagles over the course of the season, scored one of the most important goals in 2018. Durham's first half goal against Charlotte on October 5 led the Golden Eagles to a 1-0 victory against the 49ers who at the time, were ranked #1 in C-USA.
Pierce, one of the many talented defenders on the Golden Eagles' backline in 2018, scored the first goal of her collegiate career at one of the most critical points of the season. That first goal as a Golden Eagle came late in the season in the road match against Middle Tennessee. Pierce's goal ultimately proved to be a game winner and gave the Golden Eagles a 1-0 victory over Middle Tennessee in the midst of the Golden Eagles battling for a spot in the C-USA tournament.
After a remarkable regular season, Southern Miss continued their success in the postseason. The Golden Eagles clinched their first berth in the C-USA Women's Soccer Tournament since 2007.
Southern Miss entered the Tournament as the No. 6 seed and faced No. 3 seed UAB in the quarterfinals. A stout defensive performance, combined with the outstanding goalkeeping of sophomore goalkeeper Kendell Mindnich, and a late goal from Miah Zuazua at the 78:08 mark propelled the Golden Eagles to a 1-0 victory over the Blazers.
After eliminating UAB in the quarterfinals, Southern Miss advanced to the semifinals where they were matched against No. 2 seed FAU; one of the most talented squads in C-USA. Just as they had done all season, the Golden Eagles embraced the underdog role and brought an unmatched grit, and will to win to the pitch in the semifinal contest.
Much like the quarterfinal match against UAB, the semifinal match was a battle with minimal scoring opportunities for both teams. Although the Golden Eagles were outshot by FAU 16-5, it was Southern Miss' senior midfielder Stephanie Garcia who made her shot count when the opportunity came her way. Garcia was called upon to take a corner kick just before halftime and she found the back of the net on a beautiful curl, giving the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead after the first half of play. The Golden Eagles' defense and Mindnich's goalkeeping continued to be spectacular during the second half and when the final whistle blew, Southern Miss walked away with a 1-0 victory over FAU.
Two monumental milestones were achieved for the Southern Miss women's soccer program after knocking off FAU. The Golden Eagles notched their first semifinal victory of the C-USA Women's Soccer Tournament in program history and also advanced to the C-USA title match for the first time.
Despite a valiant effort against No. 1 seed North Texas in the C-USA title match, the Golden Eagles' magical season came to an end after falling to the Mean Green by a final score of 2-1 in double overtime.
The 2018 season also brought many individual accomplishments as multiple Golden Eagles racked up individual awards for their performance both on the field and in the classroom.
In the Spring of 2018, 12 current members of the Southern Miss women's soccer team were named to the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll for maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Seniors, Hannah Abrams, Ola Akinniyi, Stephanie Garcia and Aisa Ribbens, redshirt junior Kaitlin Fayard, junior, Avery Ortmann and sophomores, Jenny Caracheo, Mackenzie Hamilton, Keely Hoppmeyer, Kendell Mindnich, JoAnnie Ramos and Miah Zuazua were the 12 current players named to the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll.
Hamilton, Mindnich, Ortmann and Ramos were also awarded C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medals in the Spring of 2018 after achieving cumulative GPA's of 3.75 or higher.
Prior to the 2018 season, senior defender and team captain Ola Akinniyi landed a spot on C-USA's Women's Soccer Preseason Team after her breakout season in 2017.
After battling for and winning the starting goalkeeper job, sophomore Kendell Mindnich earned C-USA Goalkeeper of the Week honors for the first time in her collegiate career. Mindnich took home the honors for the week ending Sunday, September 16.
The Melbourne Beach, Fla. native ended her sophomore campaign on an extraordinary note by becoming Southern Miss' all-time single season shutouts leader after tallying seven shutouts during the 2018 season.
Before kick-off of Southern Miss' match against UTEP on October 14, junior goalkeeper Karsen Gildea was named the recipient of the Blake Nettles Scholarship which is given annually to one Southern Miss women's soccer player who has demonstrated community service.
Following the conclusion of the regular season, Ola Akinniyi, Miah Zuazua and Olivia Durham each earned spots on C-USA's Women's Soccer All-Conference First, Second and All-Freshman teams respectively.
After being tabbed a C-USA All-Conference First Team selection for the second time in her Southern Miss career, Akinniyi became the first player in Southern Miss women's soccer history to earn First Team honors twice.
The sophomore trio of Jenny Caracheo, Miah Zuazua and Kendell Mindnich also made history after becoming the first Southern Miss women's soccer players to be named to the C-USA Women's Soccer All-Tournament Team. All three players were outstanding for the Golden Eagles in the tournament and each of them were instrumental in helping Southern Miss to its best postseason run.
Boasting GPA's of 4.0 and 3.7 in their majors of nursing and architectural engineering respectively, JoAnnie Ramos and Ola Akinniyi both earned a spot on the 2018 C-USA Women's Soccer All-Academic First Team.
Ramos followed the honor by landing a spot on the 2018 Google Cloud Women's Soccer Academic All-District NCAA Division I – District 6 First Team. She was the only underclassman to earn a spot on the NCAA Division I – District 6 team.
The most prestigious individual honors for the Golden Eagles came in November when Akinniyi and Zuazua were selected to the 2018 United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Women's All-South Region Teams. Akinniyi was named a first team selection and Zuazua was named a second team selection. Akinniyi and Zuazua are the first Southern Miss players to earn this honor.
Akinniyi wrapped up the individual awards for the Golden Eagles by taking home the C-USA Spirit of Service Award for the University of Southern Mississippi.
The C-USA Spirit of Service Award is awarded to one student-athlete from each member institution each fall, winter and spring based on their community service efforts, good academic standing and participation in their elected sport.
Quotes from the team regarding the 2018 season
Ola Akinniyi – Team Captain / Defender
"We had a vision and designed a game plan to execute that vision but we ended up breaking through walls to accomplish a feat beyond our own eyesight. The backline was operating at the highest efficiency I've seen since my freshman year. Keely, Pierce and Kendall were huge for us as sophomores this year. The game changer was that every player realized they don't sleep on offense or defense no matter where they are positioned on the field, point blank period."
Miah Zuazua – Midfielder
"The contribution offensively was shared throughout all of our lines. We had defenders score some of the most important goals this season along with some of our midfielders and forwards.
Our attack and goals came from playing with a lot of heart and fighting as a team for one common goal. The desire to win and the refuse to lose mentality gave us some offensive power to be proud of this season."
JoAnnie Ramos – Midfielder
"It's something special to be a member of this team because the chemistry is so strong both on and off of the field. We have a culture based off of "one" meaning, how we will do everything as one and how it only takes one goal to make a difference or one rep to make us better. From seniors to freshmen to staff, we knew what we wanted and we used that idea to push us to get there."
After such a terrific season, the Golden Eagles will now focus on 2019 as they prepare for their offseason training.
