MORAGA, Calif. - The Saint Mary's women's soccer team was the first fall squad back on campus this week as they kicked off double days on Tuesday in preparation for their exhibition against Cal on Friday, August 8th. Head coach Theresa Romagnolo returns for her sixth year at the helm and has combined for 17 wins over her previous two seasons including a program high 15 points during WCC play in 2024. 

The Gaels return 25 players from last year's squad and are looking to continue their upward trajectory in the conference. The addition of Seattle U will also add to the strength of the WCC as they have combined for 31 wins over their last three seasons, finishing in the top half of the Western Athletic Conference each of those years. 

The first week of camp brings energy and excitement as fall sports are back and ready to roll. Romagnolo and her staff emphasize work rate and intensity in the early days to set the tone and standard for the season.     

First Week of Camp…

"Super pleased with the quality and depth of our returners and newcomers", said Romagnolo. "Our freshmen have integrated really nicely I feel and our returners have done a good job leading the way and setting the standard". 

The team's 25 returners is a first for Romagnolo over her tenure at Saint Mary's and will make for one of the more veteran squads in the WCC. 

"The depth is great for us and our program. The concepts we introduce almost act like a review for a lot of players. It allows for our progression as a team to be faster and gets our newcomers integrated more quickly which is super helpful with a fast start to the season" (Romagnolo). 

The Gaels prioritize "vitamins" in the early stages of camp as Romagnolo refers to, the basic technical skills of soccer. Like many high level programs, there is also an emphasis on physical fitness with less than two weeks before their first competition. Full field scrimmages will take place in week two but for now, it's small-sided games and technical work to learn everyone's tendencies and get the intensity level where it needs to be. 

"Initially we're evaluating, assessing, finding out where players are at when they return to campus. Then we move into transition soccer, possession, defensive principles, crossing and finishing, really our core principles as a program" (Romagnolo).  

Returners Leading the Way…

Saint Mary's will embark on the 2025 season without their leading goal scorer from a year ago in Tessa Salvestrin, who signed a professional contract with SCU Torreense in Portugal. Despite the loss, Romagnolo returned a whopping 25 players from their 2024 squad to stand as one of the most veteran teams in the conference. 

Amongst those returners are 2024 All-WCC selections Sydney Middaugh and Savannah Schwarze. Middaugh was the team's second leading goal scorer, matching her freshman total with four goals. She also recorded a career high three assists and was a vital piece to a dangerous front three throughout the 2024 season. Schwarze was another key piece in the team's midfield last season. She was one of the team's top facilitators as she recorded a career high four assists to lead the team while also starting in all 18 games.  

In a college sports world filled with the transfer portal and NIL, having the ability to retain players year after year helps lay the foundation for continued success and establish the program's identity.  

"It's just nice, nice to know your players on and off the field coming into a season. It's also a great foundational factor as a program. It helps establish our identity and what Saint Mary's soccer is all about. When we get players that buy into that it really makes for a special experience here at Saint Mary's" (Romagnolo).  

"Competitive, Resilient and Unified"…

Ending the week, Romagnolo and her staff speak about their team's core principles and the standard they want to set and maintain throughout the season. Like any successful program, the more a team can buy into their mottos and philosophies the more likely they are to succeed as a group. Working together to achieve a common goal is certainly a mindset that Romagnolo instills in her players every single day. 

"As coaches our job is to get more out of individual players and the team as they ever believed possible and I think that's always our challenge coming in. Looking at challenges as opportunities, that's a really key message for our players on and off the field. Our goal is to cultivate an environment of being competitive, resilient and unified, so we try to structure our trainings like that to get the very best out of each of our players" (Romagnolo).    

The team will get away for the weekend on a team retreat before returning to campus for week two on Monday. Saint Mary's will head to Berkeley to take on Cal in their lone exhibition of the season on Friday, August 8th at 5:00 PM. They will then open up the 2025 season at home against Big West member CSUN on Thursday, August 14th. 

Tickets can be bought online at smcgaels.com/tickets and you can stream the match live on ESPN+. Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.

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