Seniors Trevor Lee, Asia Cayetano, Mason Minder, Megan Moore and Megan Nielsen saw their Seattle Pacific University soccer careers come to a close last fall. In the age of COVID-19, these five seniors can count themselves fortunate for being able to finish their season in a traditional fashion.

The men’s team finished the 2019 campaign 7-9-1 overall, with a 6-6 record in conference play. Trevor Lee was the lone senior on a young team that hopes to turn its youthful potential into some concrete results in the years to come. 

Lee, a 6-foot-1-inch Midfielder from Puyallup, Washington, played in a total of 58 games throughout his Falcon career and scored a total of three goals. The Falcon men’s most successful season as a team during Lee’s career came in 2017, when they went 11-5-1, with a 7-4-1 record in the GNAC. 

Lee played in all 17 games that season, starting five of them. One major highlight of that season, and of Lee’s career, came October 19, 2017 when he scored the game-winning goal to defeat Northwest Nazarene University 1-0 at Interbay Stadium. 

Lee takes a lot of pride in his career as a Falcon.

“Being an SPU soccer player meant being a part of something bigger than myself. The program has an extensive successful history with numerous national championships and league titles that shaped the program we see today,” Lee said in an email. 

Over the last four years, the SPU women’s soccer team has compiled an impressive 45-25-6 overall record. This includes a 32-12-4 overall conference record. 

In that time, the Falcons made the GNAC playoffs all four years, and reached the championship game twice, falling just short to Western Washington University in both appearances. The Falcons also made two appearances in the NCAA Division II Soccer tournament, falling in the first round both times. 

Despite a disappointing postseason record, Moore, Cayetano, Minder and Nielsen have a lot to be proud of. They helped build a stellar program and their influence will be felt in many SPU teams to come. 

Being a senior is often a time of reflection.

“This team has provided not only friendships but a family away from home,” 5-foot-4-inch defender Asia Cayetano said 

“While it’s a challenge to balance time and respond [to] being a student athlete, this team provides such a strong support system to get through it.”

Cayetano also took a step back to reflect on what leadership should look like in a team, especially being a senior on the team.

“As a senior captain, I would say leading by example is way more effective than leading with words,” she said. “Leading wasn’t always easy and you won’t be liked by everyone all the time, but it was rewarding to be able to see the team grow and help motivate people.”

This past season, Cayetano, who is from Nampa, Idaho, was a unanimous pick for the 2019 All-GNAC team, along with a selection for the second-team All-West region. 

Not only is Cayetano has been selected three-times to a GNAC All-Academic team along with her teammate and 5-foot-4-inch midfielder Megan Moore.

Moore played 73 games, and she started 63 of them. Playing in the midfield, her job was to get the ball to the strikers and prevent the ball from getting to the defense. 

As a Midfielder, Moore had the fourth most career goals of players currently on the Falcons team with six. She was also an exceptional passer this past season, leading the team in assists with five. In addition, she also led the team in career assists with 13. 

Mason Minder, a 5-foot-8-inch defender from Camas, Washington, played in 39 games throughout her Falcon career. She played in every playoff and tournament contest SPU participated in during that time. She filled an important bench role for much of her career, supplying much needed energy when subbing into the game. 

Megan Nielsen, another 5-foot-4-inch defender for the Falcons hails from Des Moines, Washington. Nielsen played in an impressive 71 games over the course of her Falcon career. She was a constant in the starting lineup for her last three years at SPU, starting in all 57 games she played in. She played in every tournament and playoff contest the Falcons participated in. As a defender, Nielsen only scored one goal in her SPU career, but specialized in preventing other teams from scoring on the SPU defense.

The current pandemic has put sporting events on hold. In this environment, the heroics of these five SPU soccer seniors stick out even more, as well as the memories they provided and the community they developed at Interbay over the last four years. 

“I think playing at SPU, for me, was a way to showcase all the hard work that I had done during my whole athletic career,” Nielsen said.  “I also think that it meant I was able to connect with this amazing community and I now have lifelong friends from being a part of that team.”