Saint Louis University’s women’s soccer team came into the 2010 season with a solid core of five returning starters and plenty of talent all over the pitch.

However, replacing six starters in a game like soccer is no easy task, and the Bills showed some signs of inexperience early on, posting a 1-4-5 record in nonconference play against the likes of Louisville, Iowa and SMU.

When Atlantic 10 play opened up in October, it did so in heartbreaking fashion—the Bills dropped three games in a row by a combined 3 goals, digging themselves a deep hole in the A-10 standings.

However, head coach Tim Champion kept believing and pushing the girls, encouraging them and applauding their efforts regardless of the final score.

“We all stayed positive, and coach was a big help. He… and didn’t get mad about losses, so we… didn’t dwell on them,” said sophomore Allison Hu, a preseason A-10 All Conference selection.

Then the inevitable happened. Something clicked. No longer were the bad breaks going against the Billikens. The heartbreaks began to turn into triumphs. Despite the disappointing start, the team picked itself up off the ground and just refused to go down easy.

Limping into their game against St. Bonaventure with a 1-7-5 record and winless in conference play, things were looking bleak for the first 78 minutes of the contest until freshman phenomenon Jenny Hummert buried her second career goal past Bonnies’ goalkeeper Nicole Markert. Junior Colleen Kustura assisted on the winning tally.

Hummert, although a freshman, was a key element of the Billikens attacking game, tying for the team lead in points with six and starting 18 of 19 games. Her play was strong enough to warrant an A-10 All-Rookie team selection.

“Jenny Hummert, coming in as a freshman, and playing as much as she did; she scored a lot of our goals and created a lot of opportunities,” sophomore Maggie Baumann said.

Head coach Champion holds similar sentiments towards Hummert, stating earlier in the year that she is a “mature player” and “has great speed and field awareness.”

After the dramatic victory, the Billikens hosted the Richmond Spiders on Oct. 15, looking to carry their momentum forward.

After 90 minutes of stellar defense and goalkeeping, the Spiders eventually cracked the otherwise stingy defense, putting a shot into the upper half of the net inside the far post, denying the Billikens their first back-to-back wins of the season.

For the last home game of the season, George Washington traveled to Hermann Stadium to take on a Billikens squad that was determined to not only resume their winning ways, but to send off their seniors with one last home victory.

The Bills protected their pitch and did it with authority, defeating the Colonials 3-0 and in the process awakening an offense which had been dormant throughout the year.

Seniors Ashley Brazill and Emily Kryzer capped off their final home showings in style, each notching their first goal of the year.

Four other seniors were recognized for their excellence in their four years of service to Billikens women’s soccer:  Kristyn Gawin, Caitlin Werkmeister, Christine Steinmetz and Christina Brown.

With a dominant win under their belts, the Bills hit the road to play out the final games of their 2010 regular season campaign. The squad first headed down to Charlotte to take on the 49ers, a team boasting a 12-4 (6-1). Despite the differences in win-loss records, the Billikens were not fazed.

They played the 49ers hard from start to finish and were aided by a record-setting day by sophomore keeper Katie Walsh, but ultimately succumbed to the 49ers 1-0. Walsh amassed a near-ridiculous 14 saves, a school record, and allowed only the one goal.

However, there was still an outside shot at making the A-10 Conference Championship tournament. The team knew what was at stake and played accordingly in the next contest. Less than a week after the crushing loss to Charlotte, SLU traveled to Temple and took out the Owls in dramatic fashion.

Unfortunately the Billikens’ fate was not in their hands. Despite their victory and marked improvement from early on in the season, they did not qualify for the A-10 Championships.

The season wrapped up with a contest at St. Joseph’s, in which the Billikens tied the Hawks 2-2, finishing the season with an overall record of 4-9-5 (3-5). Despite finishing five games under .500, the Billikens finally meshed towards the end of the year and provided a glimpse into a very promising future.

“We started out pretty rough, but we stayed positive the whole season.  None of us doubted the team, and I think that’s why, in the end, we played the way we did.  It should have started earlier,” said Baumann.

Despite some of the struggles the season presented, the Billikens never quit, never became discouraged and never gave up.

As the saying goes, adversity breeds character. That character was on full display this season and sets the table for a 2011 season with a lot of potential, including Hu, Hummert, Baumann, and All-Confeence keeper Walsh.