2002 Lady Lions Soccer Season Concludes

The Freed-Hardeman University women’s soccer team recently completed their 2002 season by setting a school record for wins in a season with seven. The 7-10-1 season record was a major improvement from past years. Since the program was started in 2000 the Lady Lions’ records have been 1-15 in 2000 and 1-15 in 2001. The 2002 recruiting class of nine freshmen was relied upon to make an immediate impact for the Lady Lions. These freshmen did not disappoint as they led the team in many statistical categories. The season began on August 30th for the Lady Lions when they traveled to Jackson, Mississippi and tied 0-0 with Loyola University. On the final match of the season the Lady Lions traveled to Oakland City, Indiana and beat Oakland City University 4-0. In between those first and last matches there were many highlights throughout the season. One highlight came when the Lady Lions scored three goals in the second half to beat conference foe Trevecca Nazarene 3-1 on September 24th. Another highlight came when the Lady Lions trailed Campbellsville, on October 26th, by one goal with four minutes to play and scored two goals in the closing minutes to win.

The Lady Lions were led in scoring by Leslie Tiensvold (freshmen from Independence, Mo.) who scored 15 goals and dished out 11 assists. Tara Jackson (freshmen from Paris, Tenn.) scored 10 goals and tallied 4 assists. Freed-Hardeman was led defensively by Christy Baldwin (freshmen from Southaven, Miss.) and Heather Gillmore (junior from Benton, Ky.). These two players were the standouts on defense all year for the Lady Lions. Christy Baldwin’s outstanding play was recognized by the conference when she received the honor of second team all-conference defender. This honor marks the first Lady Lion soccer player to be recognized by the conference in school history. Good things appear to be on the horizon for the lady lions as they only graduate one player (Tiffany Hughes) and will return with nine freshmen who will be sophomores in 2003 with a great deal of experience. “Our record of 7-10-1 was exciting for our girls to achieve because they have worked very hard to see this success,” said head coach Jason Elliott. “It is a real positive sign in my judgment that all I have heard from these ladies is how we should have won more games this year. They appear to be motivated and want to improve even more in 2003. This is a great group of young people who are simply a joy to coach. I am very proud of them.”