Women’s soccer reaches quarterfinals

Detroit Mercy’s women soccer team finished with a 7-9-3 overall record and 5-5 conference record for the 2023 season.

These young women and the coaching staff have worked extremely hard to be the best to win. They start their workouts or practices at 6 a.m., which takes a lot of determination and dedication. Even though they did not win it all we can see that this hard work has defiantly paid off. 

Coach Steve Shelton said, “It is a grind in the Horizon League, so I think they have done an incredibly excellent job at getting better every game and putting us over the edge. They are always loose and balanced of being focused.”

Shelton is extremely confident in the group of girls that he gets to coach and knows they have that hustle in their heart to eventually win it all.

“I think it was just the mentality of if we are consistent on going out and work hard, we can win games, their focus and willingness to grind out the game is important,” Shelton said. “We have been through a lot of adversities, whether that’s injuries or games at the beginning of the season but at the end of the day practices sets a lot of pieces like repetition and its muscle memory. I think all of us understand were a good team and if we work hard and battle that we can win games.” 

Senior captain Paige Myers echoed the thoughts of her coach. 

“I think this season was a major steppingstone for us and the program,” Myers said. “We accomplished a lot of firsts including beating Oakland to be able to go to the Horizon League playoffs.”

The team ended its regular season with that 2-1 win against Oakland. The Horizon League Championships quarterfinal, it fell to Northern Kentucjy, 1-0.

“After the season I think the only way from here is up because we discovered the season is a grind and especially when we get into postseason since every game is either win or go home,” Myers said. “I think our succession and making it to the Horizon League tournament this year will hopefully lead to furthered success in the tournament in the following years.” 

Myers seems more than happy that she was able to not only be a part of the program but help build a dynamic that these girls will hopefully follow in the future years. The team has a bright future as its returnees include two sophomores, Abbey Lodato and Sophia Blankenship, who were the top two on the team in points.

Another senior, Erica Toupin, shares similar thoughts about this past season.

“This season was a fun experience for us,” Toupin said. “Our goal was to make it into the Horizon League tournament, and we accomplished just that but unfortunately came up just short in the quarterfinals. Another amazing feeling was beating Oakland for the first time in my collegiate career, and I am sure everyone else was thrilled as well. This talented group of girls are eager to come back next fall and do even more with what we have.” 

The seniors are beyond proud of what they have been able to accomplish, let alone this season but their entire career here as a Detroit Mercy Titan. Detroit Mercy’s women’s soccer team appears to have the two things every athletic team needs to compete: heart and hustle.