University of South Dakota Athletics

Courtney Stodola will be headed into her fifth year in the University of South Dakota soccer program next fall with the target being to finish strong with a group of teammates aimed in the same direction.

The senior from Elkhorn, Neb., was part of head coach Michael Thomas's first season with the Coyotes, serving as center back after spending most of her career – most of her life, actually -- as an outside back. It comes with a different set of responsibilities in one sense, but the overall project remains the same.

And on that point, Stodola, a graduate of Omaha Skutt High School, has been on-board from the beginning.

"Courtney is someone who has seen every part of this program," said Thomas, a former head coach at the University of Buffalo who was the associate head coach at Cal State Fullerton prior to taking the head coaching job at USD.

"She's going into her fifth year here and she spent a year hurt, she spent a year sitting on the bench and she's matured into a captain," Thomas said. "Last Saturday we had two spring matches on the same day and she didn't come off the field for 180 minutes. That's someone you can count on both as a person and a soccer player. It's been a blessing as a coach to have a player like her in the program."

Spring practice starts out as a time for individual development, Thomas said, with that process ultimately beginning in January.  Young players transform themselves into college athletes, he added, with that process graduating into team development. It goes from "one", in other words, into "eleven".

It's a progression that proved to be successful last season.

"Last fall was very rewarding for us," Stodola said. "We've always worked hard here but we weren't seeing the results we wanted to see. With Michael we're still working hard but we've changed and tweaked a couple things."

The result was a season that pushed the Coyotes where they'd never been during the Division I era. USD turned in six shutouts with a Division I school record for fewest goals allowed and lowest opponent shooting percentage.

And most importantly, the Coyotes went 9-7-2 last year, the most wins for the program during the Division I era. That included six wins at home.

"It's finally paying off – all the hard work," Stodola said. "We want it just as much as we did before but it's been very rewarding figuring out a style that fits our team."

It's an inevitable part of college sports that when a coaching change occurs, adjustments are going to need to take place. Those changes are easier if a sense of cooperation prevails, particularly when it involves a positive attitude from the upperclassmen.

"The younger players are going to look to the older players to see how the team vibe works," Stodola said. "If we bought in – if the older members of the team bought in – then the younger players were going to buy in, too."

Thomas was hoping for that dynamic to become a part of that first season and got full cooperation from players like Stodola, who were in some cases making significant adjustments to the way they'd been playing in the past.

"No matter what the players were asked to do, they've tried to do it," Thomas said. "They've done this without thinking about what it means to them personally. Courtney was a good example – she had been an outside back and because of the situation, she converted to center back. She ended up starting every game. That's doing everything you ask."

The success of Stodola's switch from the outside to the center figured prominently in the Coyotes' defensive improvement. It wasn't an easy adjustment for her but the numbers say it worked out.

"The team needed someone there," she said. "I stepped up. Honestly I really wasn't in love with the thought of becoming a center back that much but I knew the team needed it…I was definitely thrown into it so it took a couple games to get in the groove but I was happy to do it if my team needed it and I think it ended up working out pretty well."

Stodola's soccer playing began when she was a youngster with her father serving as coach.

"It was nice to have it that way but he could be pretty tough on me," she said, laughing. "The love of the game has kept me in it. I love a sport where you can be physical -- you know, push people around a little bit. I don't think I could play a sport like volleyball where you're not supposed to touch anyone. There's a lot of thought that goes into soccer, too. I enjoy thinking about the different aspects."

Stodola's father has a homebuilding company where she has served as an intern, seeing a glimpse of the business from all sides. She has steered toward a fondness for sales, though her father would like her to work outside the family business to start out.

There will be plenty of time for that as the years move along. For now, getting the most out of a sport she has played for much of her life is the key. It's not unique for athletes heading into their senior seasons to begin looking back and thinking about where the time went, but that doesn't make the sensation any less significant.

"Going through spring I thought about it – this is the last spring I'll ever have with this team," Stodola said. "It seems a little crazy that I'll be done after all these years. It helps me get through practice to think about this being the last time I'm going to get to do this. You take it for granted for a long time but now I'm definitely appreciating the little things more."

South Dakota tallied a 6-1-2 record throughout its spring season including an alumni match on Sunday, April 14.