With Sunday’s game against Ohio State (8-2-3, 2-2-3 Big Ten), the Northwestern women’s soccer team (6-6-1, 2-4-1) completed its final home game of the season. But for senior midfielder Aileen Guiney, the 1-1 tie was more than that — it was the final home game of her career.
“For me, it’s sad and happy and all sorts of things,” Guiney said after the game.
The senior from Naperville, Ill., was a soccer success in high school, setting school records for career goals and career assists. After sitting out the 1999 season with an ACL that was torn the summer between high school and college, Guiney got back up and played as a redshirt freshman in 2000.
Guiney was an instant hit, displaying the on-field talent that made her a first-team All-American selection in her senior year of high school.
Since the first game of her freshman season, Guiney has started all but one of the contests in which she has played. In doing so, she has established herself in the Wildcats history books, landing second on theNU all-time career assists list.
“She is the heart of our team, in terms of passion and in terms of her pure love of soccer and her pure love of stepping on the field everyday with a soccer ball at her foot,” said coach Jenny Haigh. “I don’t think there’s any place else she’d rather be, and that’s contagious and just a wonderful source of energy.”
Even after she graduates, the 2002 first-team All-Big Ten selection said there are few places she would rather be than on the field.
“I’m going to coach collegiately, for sure,” Guiney said of her plans after NU. “I want to rest. I want to rest and coach.”
After four years of Guiney’s on-field presence, the midfielder will certainly be missed.
“She’s a tremendous leader,” Haigh said. “She has a lot of integrity in the way she interacts with her team and the staff of the program. She’s a tremendous leader, and she’s really impacted the program, because of her passion and because of her ability to lead.”
But Guiney has already seen several prospects who could take on her leadership role in the years to come.
“Shannon (Schneeman) is a great player,” Guiney said.
“She’s a freshman center midfielder. And, of course, Whitney (Jones). She’s a young, young goalkeeper, but she’s going to play well, I think, as she gets older.”
For now, Guiney is trying to avoid dealing with emotions about her final season.
“It hasn’t hit me,” Guiney said. “I’m just trying not to think about it, because we still have a pretty good shot at getting in the (Big Ten) tournament, and that’s what we’ve been talking about all season.”
Guiney heads into this weekend’s games leading the team in all major offensive categories, with three goals, four assists, and ten points. Two of the goals, both unassisted, came last weekend in games against then-No. 14 Penn State (12-2-2, 6-1) and then-No. 11 Ohio State.
Friday, NU plays a third straight game against a ranked opponent, this time on the road at No. 14 Purdue (9-2-2, 5-1-1). The road trip continues on Sunday with a game at Indiana (6-6-1, 3-3-1).
“This is the best team I’ve been on,” Guiney said. “Soccer-wise, we’re the best. We won more games than other teams, and we put ourselves in more situations to win.”
