The St. Edward’s University women’s club soccer team is set to make school history as they will make their first-ever regionals appearance this weekend with a 7-0-1 season record.

The club’s first-year president, Karina Moreno, says it will be an honor to represent the university at regionals and that it is an exciting opportunity for the team to experience.

“I’m so excited! We have a lot of people cheering us on,” Moreno said. “This is a huge opportunity for our school, and it’s the first time it’s ever happened. It’s new to everybody so we’re all working together to try to just make it as fluid of a transition as possible to get us there.”

Moreno also said that the team will be going up against universities much larger than the competition they’re used to seeing, which presents a challenge. But Moreno believes that the club has a great shot at making a postseason run through their physicality and offensive firepower.

“We’re excited and we’ve been working on our fitness a lot just because [larger universities] usually have really big rosters. They’ll come with a team of 25-30 girls and we have a team of 18 so it’s really intimidating,” Moreno said. “But I think we’re ready.”

Junior center midfielder Kayleigh Toupal said that she is thrilled to play at the regional level and hopes to make her presence felt on the field.

“I hope I just score some goals and help the team go farther. Going to regionals is a big deal to the whole team… there’s a lot of people who are really good on the team.”

Toupal, a former member of the university’s varist team just last year, said that she has taken note of the team’s tenacity: a quality of the team that  doesn’t compare to any other team she’s been on. At the same time, she knows that the team’s chemistry has to be in top condition if they hope to play cohesively.

“We just need to come together more as a team. … We just need to come together more and work on our passing and really just be more of a team,” Toupal said. “Playing my whole life, honestly, having a unified team is the most important thing.”

Moreno anticipates positive traction from the club’s recent success and encourages more women on campus to take part in the organization moving forward once tryout dates are established.

The club team is currently ranked ninth of 10 and is comprised of 18 members and will be using vans provided from the university to travel to Tulsa, OK, where regional play will be held from Nov. 2-4.