With a commanding start to the year, SNHU’s women’s soccer team erupts for their tenth straight win on October 9 to begin the season.
After a year of patience and uncertainty, the women’s soccer team began their hot streak. The team continues to climb the national Division II rankings, making their way to seventh, according to the United Soccer Coaches poll.
Starting 5-0 for the first time in 27 years, it is clear that there is one thing on their mind: winning. Now they stand above their fellow Northeast-10 (NE-10) teams, currently with a 10-0-1 record after a 3-0 win against Le Moyne College on October 9.
Two-time NE-10 player of the week, Jordan Butters (’23) is excited to be back after a year without a season. Butters is tied for the team lead in goals (5) and has shown up ready to battle every game. “I think we’re kind of at a high right now,” said Butters. However, she and the rest of her squad know better than to expect an easy win.
Butters continued, “Each team has definitely…brought a new competition that we haven’t seen previously.” The stat-stuffing forward displays the pride and determination to maintain the team’s current momentum to take on any challenge that comes their way.
With the team’s best start since the 1980s, there is no doubt that the stats show how efficient the coaching has been. Soccer coach Elie Monteiro played at SNHU as a student himself. He later coached at Franklin Pierce University, the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and now at SNHU, where he has been for six seasons.
Monteiro touched upon what life was like for his team during the COVID pandemic. “You know, we couldn’t train at all…We would do some check-in phone calls…just to see how things were going with the squad,” said Monteiro.
He mentioned the preparedness of his players when they returned to campus. When asked about players that have stepped up, Monteiro noted that everyone has contributed to the team’s recent success. “What you don’t see is the work that’s being put in by some of the midfielders who are not getting on the end of the score sheet…but they are putting a lot of miles into their legs.”
Reflecting upon what it means to hold such a successful record, Monteiro views it as a distraction. “A record has never scored a goal for us, made a tackle…it is the players on the field who do that,” said Monteiro.
Being back on the field for the first time in so long, Monteiro doesn’t wish to lose sight that no game is a guaranteed victory.
