Goalkeeper Kelli Kubal and defender Jessica Jaime are the lone holdovers from the inaugural University of Illinois Springfield women’s soccer team in 2008.
Kubal and Jaime reflected on the evolution of the program as the Stars prepare for their season-opening match Sunday at Oakland City.
“From Day 1 (coach Pete Kowall’s) promise was we will have a full practice where we can scrimmage,” Kubal said. “We have that ability this year. Our freshman year, we came out here with maybe 11 people. Now we’re at 21. We’re off to a much better start. We’re not starting in the hole like past years with only 14 players.”
The Stars have experienced the growing pains that come with launching a sports program. UIS has a 9-34 overall record in its first three years of existence, including last season’s 3-12 mark (2-11 Great Lakes Valley Conference).
The team was featured in an September 1, 2011, article in The State Journal-Register.
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