GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) women's soccer team closed out the 2022 season at the Southern Conference (SoCon) Championship on Nov. 6 to put an end to an incredible season.
A THRILLING FINISH
The Spartans finished the 2022 season in a thrilling nature at the women's soccer SoCon Tournament by defeating No. 5 Western Carolina in the opening round, 2-1. UNCG advanced to the semifinal round and defeated No. 1 Chattanooga in double overtime, moving on with a 2-1 victory to the SoCon Championship. The team played to a 0-0 draw in the SoCon Championship to No. 2 Samford, then falling in penalty kicks, 6-5.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
UNCG finished in the top 100 in RPI for the fourth time in six seasons, while also being one of two SoCon teams in the top 100 with an RPI of 91.
Gabi Santora finished the season by leading nationally in penalty kicks (2-for-2). In addition,
Maddy Gilhool finished the season 13
th nationally in game-winning goals with five.
STUDENT BEFORE ATHLETE
The team also succeeded academically this year with six players being named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District® Team, including
Chloe Lausell,
Dalani Stephens,
Maddy Gilhool,
Eliza Radoll,
Gabi Santora, and
Parker Sikora.
Women's soccer ended the fall semester with a 3.60 and concluded the spring semester with a 3.62.
SOCON AWARDS
Four UNCG women's soccer players were named to the SoCon All-Conference teams for their efforts in the 2022 season. Santora and
Parker Sikora were named to the All-Conference first team, while Lausell earned All-Conference second team recognition. In addition,
Emma Malone earned a spot on the All-SoCon Freshman Team.
Stephens, Radoll, and Gilhool were selected to the SoCon All-Tournament Team.
SEASON LEADERS
Gilhool led the Spartans overall offensively on the season with nine goals and 19 shots on goal. The senior also added 30 total shots for the team. Santora led the team with six assists and 33 shots on the 2022 season.
Abby Buchholz and Malone led the squad on the defensive end this season. The goalkeeping duo recorded 84 total saves on the season. Buchholz had 56 and Malone tallied 28.
WINNING AND SHUTOUTS
Six of the teams' wins came against SoCon opponents, while the other four came during non-conference play earning victories against UNC Charlotte, Liberty, High Point and East Carolina. The Spartans had its longest winning streak this past season since 2010 with a seven-game winning streak. In addition, UNCG totaled eight shutouts this season. Buchholz had four, while Malone had two and the two goalkeepers combined for two. The eight shutouts matched the total from the 2018 season and is the most since the 2017 season when UNCG tallied nine. With the new rule that began no overtime in regular season play that went into effect the beginning of the 2022 season, the Spartans saw two 0-0 draws.
IN THE SOCON
Among the SoCon, the Spartans finished in the top five in nine categories, including second in shutouts (8), fourth in points (88), goals (32), goals per game (1.52), assists (24), assists per game (1.14), and goals against average (1.17), and fifth in saves (84) and corners (86).
THE CONCLUSION
UNCG concluded the 2022 season with a 10-7-4 overall record and 4-3-2 conference record to finish the season fourth in the conference and was as the runner-up in the SoCon Women's Soccer Championship. This was the first time since 2019 with double digit wins and fourth time with double digit wins under the direction of ninth year Head Coach
Michael Coll.
