For some athletes, their most memorable game is their last game, especially their last home game. This was true for the nine senior Ichabod soccer players who played their final regular season home game on Friday, Oct. 25. The Ichabods won the game against Missouri Southern on senior night 2-0.

Taylor Mayhew, Caysie Beetley, Rachel Hansen, Danielle Curtis, Megan Buckley, Kelsey Ewert, Brianna Ament, Lara Doescher and Kaitlyn Doescher were all honored before the game along with their parents. While all of these players were honored for their careers on the field, there was another honor that stood out. All of the girls were also members of the academic honor roll for the MIAA.

“Doing well off the field is just as important as doing good on the field because they both require us to be focused and keep us on the top of our game, both mentally and physically,” Ewert said.

The Ichabods may earn a winning season. Seeing all the hard work and practice paying off is reward enough for the seniors, especially after having a couple of rough seasons prior to their senior years.

“This year we were ready to rock the world after discovering our own identities being here at Washburn for four years,” Curtis said.

With the way the team is playing, they are looking for a spot in the conference tournament. The players know they are responsible for how much effort they put into practicing and how much they want the win.

This has helped the players stay focused on their goals and while they might not win 12 games, they will hopefully accomplish their other goal of making it to the conference tournament.

“This team is great; we’ve been held accountable for our actions and this season we have been rewarded for all our hard work and to know how far we have come and all the progress we have made, helps us maintain focus on the team,” Ewert said.

Seniors are seen as leaders. Without leaders then the other players would not know what to do during the game. Leaders become mentors to the incoming players and form not only on-field bonds but also off-field bonds as all of these seniors can remember when they were freshmen and the help they received from upperclassmen.

“We have really developed team chemistry by talking more not only off the field, but also on the field during games so we know what adjustments need to be made on both offense and defense,” Curtis said.

The seniors, however, look to their coach for guidance and direction. The head coach Tim Collins recruited these girls and stuck with them through the good, the bad and the ugly. No matter what, he was there to see the players improve and succeed.

“After some negative seasons it would have just been easy for the players to quit and give up but they stuck with it and now they are seeing how their hard work is playing off,” said Collins.