Jeff Neukom, Managing Editor
The head coach of the Illinois Wesleyan women’s soccer team, David Barrett, earned his 200th career win on the night of Wednesday, Oct. 21.
With the win, he entered into elite company and carved a place in Titan sports lore. The best part was that the Titans squashed CCIW rival Millikin, seemingly to commemorate their coach’s accomplishment.
Barrett has been the Titan’s coach since the 2001-2002 season, and under his leadership the team has posted only one season below the .500 mark. They have also performed strongly in conference, routinely logging five or more wins and placing in the top three all but one time. Last year, he guided the women’s team to a finish in the DIII Final Four.
With their win over Millikin, the Titan women’s team improved their record to 15-1-0, and they remain undefeated in conference, with a record of 5-0-0.
Millikin was underwhelming at best, and it seems as though they are stuck in a perpetual rebuilding cycle. Their offense was sluggish, their defense was flat-footed and slow to react and they struggled generating shots.
The Titans pummeled the Big Blue defense, logging 26 total shots with 15 of them on goal. The Titan defense only conceded a single shot, though that one shot did lead to Millikin’s goal in the 82nd minute.
Senior Tess Bottorff started the scoring, tapping in a header for her sixth goal of the season. Sydney Fox broke open, slicing through the Big Blue defense and whipping in a cross to Bottorff’s forehead. It was not a sign of good things to come for Millikin, as it happened in game’s second minute.
If Barrett was at all worried about the status of his potential 200th win, the team put any concerns to rest by notching another goal before the half was over.
IWU took a 2-0 lead into the half, powered by junior Amanda Kaiser’s goal in the 33rd minute off an assist from first-year Cici Gazder.
Junior Alison Seger got her fourth goal of the year at 49:01 with an assist to Fox and the Titans’ final goal came from Emily Snider at 55:17 with Seger getting the assist.
Despite Millikin’s inability to generate offense, they managed to spoil IWU’s shutout, notching a goal in the 82nd minute.
After the game, the team huddled underneath the Walt & Jo Moore press box and presented Barrett with a commemorative banner congratulating him on his 200th victory. Even without the shutout, Barrett earned his own unique spot in IWU’s history, and that’s plenty to be proud of.
The Titans will look to carry the momentum from making history into their match against Elmhurst. Illinois Wesleyan hosts Elmhurst at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24 at Neis Field.