What was once a program not taken seriously is now a team bringing home its first-ever championship. When women’s indoor soccer head coach Hayley Howe came to JC in 2013, indoor soccer existed, but it was only seen as “a fun off-season sport,” according to Howe. However, after Howe was promoted to head coach of the women’s outdoor soccer team, she took over the indoor team as well.

After winning the semifinal, the team had their minds set on the championship. Playing in front of a student section for the first time of the season, JC were victorious in a 4-3 thrilling victory against Mercy. “I was just so proud of the team, and especially the seniors, they are just such a great group of girls and I was just elated that they could leave their senior year with a trophy,” Howe said. Prior to their victory on Saturday, however, the team had struggle to capitalize in the playoffs.

“[Before, indoor soccer held] maybe practice once a week, and it was more of a fun intramural thing where girls who maybe have never played soccer could give it a shot,” Howe said. However, Howe has now taken the team to the varsity-sport level, challenging her soccer players to improve during the off-season.

Many outdoor players that played for Howe during the fall season joined the team in order to improve both their relationships with their teammates and soccer skills. “It gives me a chance to get better at the [fundamentals] of soccer,” senior indoor soccer player Gabby Centi said.

In addition to improving her varsity team’s ability, Howe encouraged her JV players to come out in order to gain more one-on-one time with their coach and fellow players. “To me it seems like a no-brainer. If you are a freshman, sophomore, or even a junior and you’re looking to find ways to get better at soccer, playing soccer obviously is going to be the best,” Howe said.

Because many outdoor players also play for the indoor team, it helps form better relationships both on and off the field while playing multiple seasons with the same teammates. “Since we all play together in outdoor, when indoor season comes along, we already have a strong team bond and know how each other plays,” sophomore indoor soccer player Erin Scannell said.

The women’s indoor soccer team has had success throughout their seasons for the past few years, but has never been able to bring home an IAAM championship. In the past two years, the team ended their regular season with records of 13-0 and 7-0. According to Howe, they struggled to win key games in the playoffs. “We do very very well in the regular season, but we get to that playoff stage, and we haven’t been able to break the ceiling and actually win a championship,” Howe said before the championship game.

Last year, the team reached the semifinals, but lost to Notre Dame Preparatory School. “Something we really wanted to do this year was to focus on ‘Okay, what mistakes did we make?’” Howe said.

After successfully getting vengeance against Notre Dame Prep, 5-2, in this year’s semifinals, the women’s indoor team was ready to seize the opportunity in the championship against Mercy. After their semifinal win, Howe made it a point to keep her team calm, and just be ready for the championship game. “I just wanted to keep them relaxed. I felt like they were going to feed off my anxiety so I kept it calm,” Howe said.

In a championship, JC prevailed as IAAM champions 4-3 for their first ever championship. “The past three years we came up short at the end after doing well in the season and I am so happy that for my senior year we were finally able to finish off the season with the championship,” Centi said.

Grant Sharretts is an Online Chief for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.