Grand Rapids, Mich.- New coach, new faces, same expectations.
That's basically the depiction of the Aquinas College women's soccer on the pitch as they open the 2026 season this weekend.
The Saints have a first-year leader of the program in Mario Zuniga-Gil, who was hired in the offseason to replace Jenna Smith.
The Saints have 12 transfers.
The Saints have a large collection of incoming freshmen.
 But despite all the changes, including losing an All-American goalkeeper (Kayla Shuk) and leading goal scorer (Kiersen Korienek), the Saints are gearing up to replicate the success that Aquinas women's soccer has been accustomed to.
"Although we have a new coaching staff and new faces, it has put us in a very good place in terms of being able to make it our own and set our own expectations and how we want to play and what we are about," Zuniga-Gil said. "I'm not saying we are starting over because we are trying to maintain a lot of the things that has made Aquinas really good. I'm very thankful to inherit a program that has had success, but at the same time giving it our own twist. The new players along with the returners have bought into what we are trying to do."
And that's the challenge.
Meshing the 12 returners with the new incoming players to form a cohesive group that can achieve excellence.
For senior midfielder Maeve Comfort, the transition has gone relatively smoothly as they become familiar with one another on and off the field.
"It's gone really well so far," Comfort said. "Mario came in and I think we had a lot of confidence in him from the beginning. He set up a lot of training and weightlifting plans and it's been good. He's encouraging, and we have a lot of new girls on the team this year so it's a big change, but I think we've been meshing and playing well."
Another senior leader, Savannah Reese, echoed those sentiments.
"It's a very new team," she said. "We have some returners but overall, it's pretty new. But we're meshing really well. Mario has been doing a really good job of bringing in a lot of different personalities and different playing styles that are merging really well. So far, it's going great."
Building from Last Year's Success
Last season, the Saints finished 12-7-1 overall and finished third in the WHAC with an 8-2-1 mark.
They advanced to the conference tournament finals and earned another trip to the NAIA National Tournament where they were bounced out in the second round by Marian.
The WHAC released its preseason coaches poll for this season and tabbed defending conference champion UNOH as the preseason favorite.
 Aquinas came in right behind at No. 2.
"Obviously, going into the season we expect to be one of the top competitors in the WHAC so winning the conference and winning the conference tournament are still our expectations," Reese said. "Like I said, we have a young group but we're not changing our standards just because we have different players coming in. I think those goals are  within reach and hopefully we can go for a national run."
In addition to Comfort and Reese, the Saints also return seniors Katelynn Sterling, Aubrey Phenicie and goalie Mya Chickering, juniors Reegyn Cady, who had three goals and three assists last season, Izzy Bartlett, Abigail Kramer, Bella Teelander, Julia Grzadkowska and Chaya Sirvath, and sophomore Joy Reams.
Junior Tia Rita Daher is back from injury and will help out the back line, as will newcomer Kailey Lambert.
Filling a Void in the Net
Bartlett will compete for the starting goalkeeper spot along with sophomore newcomer Claire Fogarty, who played for NAIA national runner-up University of the Cumberlands.
They both have giant shoes to fill in net after the graduation of Shuk, who was one of the most decorated players in school history.
"It was one of the biggest things I had to figure out and one of my priorities when I took over because she leaves such a big hole to fill," Zuniga-Gil said. "We have four goalkeepers, and Izzy is someone who has been waiting for her turn under Kayla and has a lot of great attributes and has is the ultimate teammate. Claire is an incredible addition. She is athletic and has mastered the fundamentals. I'm excited to see them compete and earn that spot."
Growing and Learning Together
Zuniga-Gil said the energy level has been high at practices thus far, and the girls are adapting to new ideas while building deeper relationships.
Lessons are being learned.
Dealing with conflict and adversity when it comes has been talked about frequently.
The hope is it will all come to fruition sooner than later.
"With the amount of new pieces, there is always going to be a tendency to expect different, but I'm very  confident that this group of players and us are going to be successful," Zuniga-Gil said. "We want that to happen in year one, and we are going to do everything we can to make it happen. I don't want to think about rebuilding years. My expectation is to continue to be very competitive and continue to be one of the best teams in the WHAC. That's my goal."
Comfort has those same aspirations for this year's team.
"We want to compete every single game and give our best effort," she said. "We will do everything we can to make it as far as we possibly can. We are learning each other and trying to grow as a team."
The Saints open the season at home on Saturday at noon against Spring Arbor.
