A wave of white jerseys with dark red lettering advances down the vivid green turf pitch. Ten women, arms pumping, cleats flinging little black, rubber pellets behind them as they advance on their opponent’s goal. Shenandoah University steals the ball. An enemy player sprints down the field, cherry-red jersey flashing down the pitch, and passes to her center forward who settles the pass. She shoots.
Adyson Franken dives, gripping the ball with both palms to complete her eighth clean sheet of the year. Franken, the goalie for Guilford College’s women’s soccer team, will have two more perfect games, shutting down all shot attempts, before the team’s season concludes.
This win brings the Quaker’s winning streak to four wins and one tie. Franken said, “I think the five game winning streak says a lot about our program.” But the Guilford women’s soccer program wasn’t always a success.
In 2019, the team lost two-thirds of their games. In 2020, they won a single game. Come 2021, the team began evolving.
Justin Maullin became the Interim Head Women’s Soccer Coach, then Head Coach the following year. During his first season with the team, Maullin guided his team of 14 girls — 11 are on the pitch at a time — to an improved record, winning over 60% of their games. The team continues to improve, winning against teams they historically lost to, like Shenandoah. If they do lose, it’s a tight game every time.
The Quaker women’s opponents averaged 0.72 goals per game (in comparison to the conference average of 2.06 goals per game). This means a total of 15 goals entered Franken’s net the entire season, bringing them to second in the league for goals allowed, according to ODAC (Old Dominion Athletic Conference) rankings. In 2019 they were ranked 10th out of the 14 teams.
Going from 14 players, which is a small amount for any college team, to 31, the team has undergone more transformations than what is seen on a list of statistics and rankings.
Maullin talked about his first season when his small team went 11-6-1. When he brought in 16 new players the following season he said “the results just kept coming out.”
At the conclusion of the 2024 season the team finished with a 12-5-2 record, but, according to Maullin, it is not just a staffing change that contributed to the evolution of the Quakers.
Adyson, or Ady, Franken is the record breaking goalie and graduate student who entered Guilford in 2020. “I’m glad she came back because she’s an impeccable leader,” Maullin said. He explained that good coaching is important but leadership from the veteran players is also necessary to a successful program.
Franken, with her constant bright smile, was so proud of her team’s winning streak because of the work ethic and positivity it embodied. She said, “I need to see everyone’s working their best to continue this winning streak.” Her enthusiasm and leadership is reflected by her fellow senior leaders and even the younger players.
As a senior, Andrea Cazares-Vasquez, who plays defensive midfielder, wanted to make the most of the season, springing off the successes of the last several games. She said, “we’re gonna win them all because we’re awesome!”
Franken and Cazares-Vazquez’s leadership in practices and games created what was described by other players as a community where high standards were normal.
Though these women did not triumph against all the teams like the players and coaches wanted, they still snatched the fifth seed for the conference tournament and came in third for the highest average goals scored. They had ranked sixth for average goals scored the prior season.
Guilford women’s soccer combined good coaching with good player leadership to conclude another successful season.
