The CWU women’s soccer team had a tough year, as the Wildcats battled through injuries and not playing the same lineup two times in a row, except for the last two games.

The Wildcats finished with a 2-12-3 record overall, and finished 1-9-2 in the GNAC.

Coming off one of their best seasons ever last year, the Wildcats had a program record 13 regular season wins, they made their first ever NCAA postseason and they had their first ever NCAA postseason win.

“I think with the success of last year’s team, we may have felt the additional pressure of repeating that success,” head coach Michael Farrand said.

According to Farrand, they didn’t feel the pressure within the team, but it was more in their heads knowing that they were successful before, so they should be successful again.

The Wildcats had to make some changes the past few seasons because they lost seven players to graduation last year and are losing eight this year. They have lost half of their starting lineup in the past two seasons.

Senior midfielder Bailey Martoncik made an impact for the Wildcats before she suffered a knee injury in the spring. That injury forced her to be out for the season and she was unable to play this year.

The Wildcats will get a boost going into next year because Martoncik will be coming back for a fifth year after redshirting this year, meaning she has another year of eligibility due to not appearing in any games this season.

“After every loss, it was like ‘alright next one we got to get, no more slip-ups,’” junior forward KK Wallace said. “It just didn’t always happen for us. Just reminding ourselves, ‘alright pick ourselves back up’, it was definitely not only a team building, but character building for every single one of us.”

The team wanted to be focused, to remember that it is a team sport, to lean on each other and continue their hard work.

“We just need to come together as a team and a unit… and pick ourselves back up after this season,” Wallace said.

One of the bright spots for the Wildcats this year was Mackenzie Nolte. She became the all-time points leader and goal scorer in CWU women’s soccer history. The previous record for points was 65 and previous record for goals was 27, both records were held by Judy Koenig. Nolte finished her senior season leading the team in goals with nine and added one assist and 19 points.

“Overall, I would just say I feel really blessed to have had the opportunity to grow my game out with this team and I learned so much,” Nolte said.

Nolte has been a large contributor for the women’s soccer program at CWU, but she gives credit to those around her for helping her to get this point.

“My game has changed exponentially and the people that I had surrounding me made that possible for me,” Nolte said. “I couldn’t have done it without them, especially Whitney Lowe. Her and I work together up top a lot and she has a lot to do with my success. A lot of other girls too helped me a lot and my coach taught me more than I could ever imagine I would ever learn in soccer. I really owe it to everybody.”

Nolte is leaving CWU with various awards, namely GNAC First Team All-Conference, D2CCA West-Region Second Team and NSCAA West-Region Second Team in 2016.

“It means a lot because I went into coming here and all I wanted to do was play, make a difference and just make an impact for the program,” Nolte said. “I feel like that was a good testament for what I came here to do. I hope it gives something for people to strive towards because it really does feel good to get that recognition.”