With a new coaching staff, on-field inexperience, and a difficult conference schedule, a tough rebuilding year was expected of the ISU soccer team this season.

The preseason expectations were spot on, as the Cyclones could not win a game in the Big 12, and three freshmen started at least 15 games each.

Coach Wendy Dillinger said she didn’t expect her first season coaching at Iowa State to end the way it would, but the season-ending loss against Nebraska, in which the Cyclones were only able to field 15 healthy players and allowed three goals in the second half, was a microcosm of the year.

“We fell far short of my expectations,” Dillinger said. “I expect to be able to compete next year; we have to be able to put the ball in the net and solidify the defense.”

Defender Emily Hejlik finished her freshman campaign starting all 19 games for the Cyclones, and the winless conference result was definitely a different feeling than the four state titles she ended her career with at West Des Moines Valley.

“The season obviously didn’t go as planned,” Hejlik said. “We just really couldn’t catch any breaks in games and struggling with injuries all year gave us some really bad breaks.”

The early season served up smaller competition to the Cyclones, and finding non-conference victories helped provide much needed confidence for the squad. A 5-4 finish out of the Big 12 just wasn’t enough to salvage the wreck that was the conference schedule, and the team finished 0-8-2 in conference, good for last place.

“I was close with the seniors, and I love this team. I feel terrible not ending the season better for them, and I’ll miss them,” Hejlik said.

The seniors Hejlik speaks of are Leslie Hill, Erin Curry and Amanda Purple, three players who provided leadership in different ways for the Cyclones. The roles each played for the team were vital, but losing only three seniors on a team of 23 players proves that this was a young squad.

Purple saw action in three games this season before she went down with an injury that kept her on the sidelines for the remainder of the season. Curry came off the bench in 13 games this season, providing an energetic spark as a substitute for Iowa State, but Hill was the key senior contributor for the team. With three goals and four assists, Hill’s skills at forward will be the one important piece that will need replacing for next year.

“Hill is just an incredible athlete, and we lost Purple early, so it was tough for them to end their careers like this,” Dillinger said.

The youth on the current team now has experience under their belts, and with nine freshmen coming in and a starting lineup that should feature six seniors, the team is now focused on making sure next year doesn’t end the same way.

Junior defender Lauren Fader is one of four players who started every game this season for the Cyclones and is headed to her senior season with Academic All-District honors and high expectations for a better season.

“Now we have nine months to train before another three months of the actual season, and we just need to stay committed, get fit and train hard this offseason,” Fader said.

Fader echoed Dillinger’s comments about the team’s lack of fitness coming into this season, but stayed positive about the team’s effort to improve in the Big 12 and compete for the entire season.

“Our class wants to be able to remember our senior years, and we feel that we’ll do whatever we can to not let this [winless year] happen again,” Fader said.

The key to getting next year on the right track for the Cyclones will lie in the adaptability of the freshmen class and to cure this year’s inability to get shots in the goal.

“We have some work to do,” Dillinger said. “We need to get the most out of the kids that are here, and grow much stronger, as a group, to improve next year.”

Dillinger’s second season looks to include a few victories in-conference, and hopefully a postseason berth, and the high hopes of next year’s squad will have to resolve themselves during the rebuilding of the program. Dillinger came into the job with four seniors, the bulk of the team’s talent in young players, and the task of getting inexperienced college players to perform well in the Big 12.

A tie against then-No. 15 Colorado and tight games against the conference’s elite show that the Cyclones can show sparks of strength, but a large defeat to Missouri and the debacle that was a 0-7 loss to Oklahoma State seem to prove that the Cyclones will need a bit of help and few more skill players to put them over the cusp.

“It’s exciting to be a leader on a team that is rebuilding, and we’re going try to start some tradition here at Iowa State,” Fader said.

ISU soccer 2008 season brief:

Team MVPs: Junior Ann Gleason and sophomore Jordan Bishop

Gleason, Goalkeeper: Started 18 of 19 games and led the Big 12 in saves. Kept Iowa State close in countless situations.

Bishop, Midfielder: Started all 19 games and carried team possession, five assists on season.

Key Loss: Senior Leslie Hill

Hill: Ten points on the season, provided emotional spark and power up front.

Players to watch in ‘09: Juniors Elise Reid and Adrianna O’Neill

Reid: Led team in goals and shots, has big leg that didn’t get enough opportunities in ‘08.

O’Neill: Uber-aggressive with size and skills to play anywhere on the field, will fill any position needs.

Players to improve in ‘09: Junior Amanda Nimtz and freshman Rachel Brcic

Nimtz: Texas native has some of the most exciting ball skills on team, and more motivation could mean more minutes.

Brcic: Small-ish midfielder that showed flashes of ability, just needs time to get Big 12 physicality and fitness.

Key offseason note: goalkeeping duties

Gleason and Ashley Costanzo split time at the end of the season, and it will be interesting to see if Dillinger sticks with the plan to alternate the players by the half, or to keep Gleason in goal full time. Gleason has confidence and all the records, but Costanzo has speed and size to make some noise.