This year marks the 30th anniversary of Saint Louis University's inaugural women's soccer season. As part of the recognition of this milestone, SLUBillikens.com is highlighting the program's 11 (eight individuals and three teams) Billiken Hall of Fame inductees.
 
Leading off this retrospective is the Conference USA championship team of 1999, welcomed into the Hall of Fame in 2007.
 
Saint Louis women's soccer experienced a moderate degree of success in the program's first three campaigns. The Billikens debuted in 1996 with a 12-6-2 overall record and a 6-3-0 Conference USA ledger. SLU posted records of 11-5-3 overall and 4-4-1 in league play the following year before dipping below .500 in 1998.
 
The Billikens' attempt to recover from the disappointment of 1998 was aided by a move from the Anheuser-Busch Conference and Sports Centre, where Saint Louis played its home games from 1996-98, to the on-campus, newly renovated Billiken Sports Center, later to become known as Robert R. Hermann Stadium. The Bills opened the season by defeating Iowa on their new home field, a win that was part of a 4-1-1 record they carried into league action.
 
Saint Louis began C-USA play modestly, going 1-1-1 in its first three outings. On the back end of a two-game road trip, however, the Billikens blanked Louisville to begin a 10-game unbeaten streak (9-0-1) that remained a school record until 2018.
 
The streak included a 7-0-1 mark against conference foes, giving the Bills a final C-USA record of 8-1-2 – one point ahead of Charlotte, Houston and Marquette for first place. The regular-season league title was the first championship in SLU women's soccer history and the University's first outright Conference USA crown in any sport.
 
Despite suffering a season-ending upset loss in the C-USA tournament first round, Saint Louis had made its mark. In addition to capturing the regular-season league championship, the Billikens (14-3-3) tallied what were then school records for most wins, fewest losses, fewest home losses (one), fewest road losses (one) and fewest shots allowed (141). SLU outscored its opponents 43-14.
 
Goalkeeper Meghann Burke registered all 14 wins – then a school record – to go with SLU freshman season marks of 10 shutouts and 79 saves she still holds. Trisha Underberg set then-SLU season standards for goals (11) and points (26) by a senior.
 
Burke earned a spot on the Freshman All-America second team and the All-Region second team as selected by Soccer Buzz. She also was named C-USA Freshman of the Year and was voted to the All-Conference second team.
 
Underberg and Kelly Young were named to the NSCAA All-Region and C-USA All-Conference first teams. Kathleen Schager (second team), Holly Houston (third team), Mandy Trokey (third team, All-Freshman) and Jenny Kehl (All-Freshman) also collected All-Conference accolades.
 
The 1999 Billikens were inducted into the Billiken Hall of Fame in 2007.