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.
 
Up next is the first SLU women's soccer team to reach the NCAA Championship and 2013 Hall of Fame honorees, the 2005 Billikens.
 
Click here to register for the Oct. 16-17 Alumnae Weekend/30th Anniversary Celebration

The 2005-06 school year was a time of transition for Saint Louis University athletics. Following a 10-year run as a charter member of Conference USA, Saint Louis accepted an invitation to join the Atlantic 10 Conference.
 
To say the least, the SLU women's soccer team fared quite well in its final C-USA campaign. The Billikens won the 2004 regular-season conference crown with a 9-1 record, part of a 15-6-1 overall mark. That, plus the return of four of their top five scorers, had the 2005 Bills brimming with confidence in the program's 10th season.
 
Still, the move to a new conference naturally carried with it a degree of uncertainty. While believing that his team was capable of winning an A-10 title, head coach Tim Champion expressed a sense of the unknown prior to the season. "The scary part is that I've never seen any of the league teams," Champion said. "We don't know how they play or what their facilities are like. We'll find out as much as we can, but we just have to go out and play."
 
And that's what the 2005 Billikens did – went out and played. Oh, how they played.
 
The season began with some heartbreak as SLU dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to Oklahoma at Hermann Stadium. But the Billikens rebounded with a 3-1 victory at Rice, a 2004 national tournament team, followed by wins at Southeast Missouri State (1-0), vs. Illinois State (2-1, overtime) and at Mississippi (2-1). A 2-1 home loss to No. 8 Duke, which had advanced to the 2004 NCAA Championship third round, halted the winning streak at four.
 
Saint Louis breezed past Duquesne 5-0 in the Billikens' inaugural A-10 contest, and a 3-0 win over Air Force improved SLU's record to 6-2, at the time the second-best eight-game record in program history. The Bills concluded the primary portion of their non-conference schedule with a 2-1 loss at No. 5 Santa Clara, a team coming off a 2004 national semifinals appearance.
 
The next opponent was a familiar one. Charlotte, also a C-USA charter member, had moved with SLU to the Atlantic 10. At Hermann Stadium, the Billikens captured the first A-10 meeting between the rivals, 2-1, before downing Richmond 3-1 at home to improve to 3-0 in conference play.
 
Three consecutive league road tests then awaited the Billikens. They passed them all, winning 4-1 at Temple, 2-1 at Saint Joseph's and 1-0 at Massachusetts.
 
Saint Louis stepped out of conference a final time and was edged 1-0 at Missouri State, snapping a five-game winning streak. However, a return to the home pitch helped propel the Billikens past George Washington (2-0) and La Salle (5-0), giving SLU an 8-0-0 A-10 slate and a second consecutive regular-season conference title.
 
Posting an unblemished conference record in its first year of A-10 competition was the first statement the Billikens made. The next came in the A-10 Championship on the home field of the two-time defending league champion.
 
Dayton had won or shared seven consecutive regular-season titles and claimed five of the previous nine tournament championships. But after slipping a few notches during the 2005 race, the Flyers were forced to play an A-10 Championship first-round game, which they won over Saint Joseph's. That set up a semifinals clash with Saint Louis, which received a first-round bye.
 
Playing before a hostile Baujan Field crowd of just over 1,000, Saint Louis struck early with a goal by Lachlyne Eastman (Dee Guempel assist) in the 10th minute. Ironically, it was the only goal of Eastman's career, and it held up for a 1-0 triumph that put the Billikens into the final and guaranteed a new A-10 champion would be crowned – and a different team would punch its ticket to the NCAA Championship.
 
SLU had reached the tournament final in each of its last two years in C-USA but had met with disappointment both times – a penalty-kick elimination vs. DePaul in 2003 and a loss to UAB in 2004.
 
New league – new result.
 
Rhode Island, the No. 2 seed, stood in the way. The SLU attack produced advantages of 24-6 in total shots and 8-0 in corners, but it wasn't until the 63rd minute that Maureen Hughes (Guempel assist) tallied her ninth goal of the season to put the Billikens on top. That's how it ended, and Saint Louis had its elusive conference tournament winner's trophy and NCAA Championship berth.
 
The Billikens were assigned to a somewhat familiar venue for their first taste of the NCAA tourney – Santa Clara, where they had journeyed in September. Their first-round opponent was 18th-ranked Stanford, which had reached the second round in 2004.
 
Despite the Cardinal's substantial statistical edges – 21-7 in total shots and 9-1 in corners – the Bills found the magic when it counted. They took a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute on Kelly Ferguson's team-leading 11th goal of the year, with assists coming from Cassi Winchell and Guempel. Hughes (Winchell assist) provided insurance with her 10th goal of the season in the 63rd minute, and Abby Goellner turned away all seven Stanford shots on net as SLU registered its fifth consecutive shutout (at the time tying a school record), and ninth of the season, 2-0.
 
In a rematch with Santa Clara, the Billikens battled the nation's fifth-ranked team to a stalemate for most of the first half. The Broncos took a 1-0 lead into intermission after scoring in the 39th minute, and the eventual national quarterfinalist added three second-half goals to win 4-0.
 
With a 16-5 final record, Saint Louis set what was then a school mark for victories; included in that total were a school-record nine road wins, still tied for most in program history. The Billikens, who allowed just four goals to A-10 opponents, were ranked 30th in the final Soccer Buzz national poll.
 
Courtney Hulcer led the team in postseason accolades. Hulcer, who registered still-standing school records of 15 assists and seven game-winning assists, was named NSCAA first-team All-Region, first-team All-Conference and A-10 Defensive Player of the Year.
 
Ferguson, who scored a then-school-record six game-winning goals, and Hughes were selected to the NSCAA All-Region second team. They, along with Eastman and Tara Gresco, joined Hulcer on the All-Conference first team. Lauren Olson earned a spot on the A-10 All-Rookie squad.
 
Goellner was tabbed Most Outstanding Player of the A-10 Championship and was joined on the All-Tournament team by Hulcer, Hughes, Olson and Mary Green.
 
The 2005 Billikens were inducted into the Billiken Hall of Fame in 2013.