Mustangs' new faces brings increased competition

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Morningside women's soccer associate head coach Jackie Martinez enters the 2025 season with plenty of talent on the roster, and the challenge of narrowing it down to 11 starters.

There are 18 new faces on the roster, and eight of them are transfers from junior colleges. There are 30 total players on the roster heading into the season.

"We already see now that they're going to make a difference for us as well, along with their returning players and our leaders," Martinez said. "The girls are starting to catch on with what we're doing. The new girls and the older girls are helping them, and paving the way for them as well."

Martinez said it's been three or four seasons since the women's program saw players to this amount, and not only by quantity, but also by talent: "It's going to be tough to narrow it down for travel days and playing time."

The transfers and freshmen enter a program that went 8-6-4 last season, and 6-3-2 in Great Plains Athletic Conference play. The Mustangs qualified for the GPAC Tournament, and defeated Briar Cliff 2-0 in the quarterfinals. Hastings ended the Mustangs' season in the semifinals.

Morningside returns its Top 2 scorers: Keyera Harmon and Melissa Tsatiris, both seniors. Harmon scored seven times, while Tsatiris had six.

"We all enjoy soccer and team bonding, so it's been really nice," Tsatiris said. "We are a locked-in group. The transfers are for sure going to help us, and the freshmen coming in are really strong. A bunch of players will for sure play. That's going to help us succeed."

The Mustangs' No. 3 scorer — Tuva Hammarlund (5) — is also returning.

"Everyone wants to be on the pitch," Hammarlund said. "When we knew we were going to get a lot of (new) players, I got really excited. That helped me work extra hard over the summer. You don't know that whether you're going to play 90 minutes, but that's a great part of competition."

Isa Carlsson returned for her junior season, and the Swiss midfielder had five assists that led the Mustangs.

Head coach Tom Maxon and Martinez used three different goalkeepers in 2024. Kyla Syverson appeared in 18 matches with a .778 save percentage, while Stina Ahlund and Moriah Dixson appeared in 10 combined matches. In all, they totaled 66 saves.

Morningside will open the season carrying a fourth-place spot in the GPAC preseason poll, collecting 89 points.