Justice Vue

After finishing just one short of the postseason, the women’s soccer team looks to redeem themselves this season, and hopefully continue the offensive spark. It took just two games for the Pipers to match their entire goal count from the 2022 season.
Half of these goals came in just eighteen minutes versus Buena Vista, the team’s largest victory in five years.
“It was really good for a lot of us to get the ball in the back of the net and know what it feels like to score,” Maya Dempsey said. “It also helped that we could get every single player on our roster into the game at some point because it builds experience and confidence.”
This season is year number two under coach Michael Prunty, a former assistant coach at Concordia St. Paul. Prunty has a rather unorthodox but successful alternative to team captain.
“We have a group that represents the entire time of all ages to refocus ourselves on how to create that culture that challenges them on the field but also supports them at the same time,” Michael Prunty said.
The decision on who the leaders are is up to the players and which teammates they think are fit for the role.
“It just gives a closer connection to your other teammates because if it’s just one or two captains they don’t have much of a connection to the lower classmen saucepan,” Tali Schrader said.
The Pipers have only one non-conference game remaining in the season versus UW River Falls on Oct. 4 Last season they were only able to emerge victorious in two of the eleven MIAC (Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) games on schedule.
“This year we are taking it more day by day,” Schrader said. “We all have team goals and would like our individual goals to align with team goals or else we’ll never reach our team goal.”
This has led to changes in training in-season and off, Schrader noted the intensity has increased this season leading to progression along the entire roster. The team will have depth like they have not seen in recent years, thanks to progression from returners and fourteen incoming recruits.
With so many new faces, the team leaders have stepped up to quickly form a bond and improve the culture of the team.
“We call it forced family fun and it’s mandatory,” Schrader said. “We’ve gone bowling, had game nights and before that team dinners.”
Before every home game the team would have a team dinner the night before at one of player’s homes and would eat together throughout the preseason.
“I feel like the team bonding early on helped us immensely,” Schrader said. “Doing it in the season is kind of hard with classes but we are still able to do it.”
Under the first full season with Prunty, the Pipers look to get over the hump and make it to the postseason.
“We want to make it to the playoffs and we have brought in a lot of first years that will be able to play and make that happen,” Dempsey said. “We are ready for the challenge and excited to finally get into it.”
The new staff has brought in a much needed revamp in play style, a strict but successful system has shown results in the early goings of the 2023 season.
With plenty of new depth and a well implemented system to improve the culture and bond between teammates a recipe for success is cooking up for the Pipers.