Michigan State University Athletics
Soccer Celebrates 20th Anniversary Season
9/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 14, 2005
East Lansing, Mich. - The women who built up the legacy that is now Michigan State women's soccer returned on the second weekend in Sept. in honor of the team's 20th season as a varsity sport. MSU women's soccer alumni gathered together to show their support for the current team, and to catch up with former friends and teammates.
After a tailgate on Saturday, prior to MSU's football game with Hawaii, all alumni were invited to participate in an exhibition game just prior to the Sept. 11 contest with Toledo. They were then honored in a ceremony at halftime.
"I played, pretty well," said Karen Winslow (1991-94), 1994 Big Ten Player of the Year, of the mornings game. "The fitness level is not the same as it was, but I played pretty well."
Winslow said playing soccer for Michigan State was probably the best years of her life, with the best teammates.
"This weekend was great. Coming back to Spartan Country is always a good time. You get back the memories, and see a lot of familiar faces," said Winslow. "Everyone has gone their own ways, but we always come back together, and have our memories from when we were back at State."
Former player Andi Sied (2000-03) was also happy to be back.
"It's nice that they put all of this together," Sied said. "With everyone moving on, it's hard to be able to catch up. It's a good excuse to come back, and see how everyone is doing."
Head coach Tom Saxton was just as pleased with the weekend's turnout. Saxton who has been a part of the women's program for almost 20 years, was thrilled to see so many of his former players return.
"This is one of the greatest weekends of my life, to have all these women that I've been working with for 20 years now, return," said Saxton. "I just can't say enough, it's a total joy, the whole thing."
Sisters, and former Spartans, Julie and Susan Pacheco, were a part of the team that helped build women's soccer into a varsity program.
"When we came to college, we were the first group of women that wanted to play at the collegiate level. We started out as a club program, but were playing a lot of big name schools, including a lot of Big Ten schools, but Cincinnati was our big rival," said Susan. "It became a varsity program two years after we graduated, but we were a part of the team that put it all together. Our team spent hours filling out all the paperwork."
The Pacheco sisters were also excited to see Saxton coaching on the sidelines.
"Tom is really special to us, because our friend Carrie, who was also on our team, was Tom's sister, and she just recently passed away," said Susan. "So, for us, it just means a lot that he's the coach."
Assistant Tammy Farnum, who has both played (1989-92) and coached at MSU, believes it is important for the current Spartans to see just how dedicated the alumni are.
"It's amazing to look out and have Tom, who's been my coach my entire career, back with Carrie's friends," said Farnum. "They took a moment to honor, and it's amazing for the current team to see."
The team's success in its 4-0 win against Toledo is something Saxton attributes to the crowd.
"They're a great support, and our team really played for them today," said Saxton. "I think it's our best performance to date, and I think it had a lot to do with the alumni sitting in the stands."
2005 graduate Abby Shepherd (2002-2004) was glad to be able to return and support the team.
"I was able to come back last week to see the team beat (No. 6) Texas A & M, which was such a big win for the program. Even though I'm not playing, I have the same feelings when I watch," said Shepherd. "I hope that I'm always able to come back, because the program has done so much for me, and I would like to come back and be able to support them as well."
Farnum hopes that by seeing the alumni support firsthand, the current players realize the opportunity they have to leave their own legacy at State.
"The girls are our future and we have a very special team this year," said Farnum. "So we told them to raise it up, raise the level, create the future for us and they definitely did that for us today."
