EUREKA, Ill. – A pair of first-half goals from freshman phenom
Reagan Shinn (Niceville, Fla.) was all that The W women's soccer needed in registering its first victory of 2026, 2-0, in a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) battle at Eureka College. The win improved the Owls to 1-6-0 (1-1-0 SLIAC), while the Red Devils fell to 1-4-0 (0-2-0 SLIAC).
Shinn has been MUW's top offensive player this season by taking one-third of her team' shot attempts, with Thursday's effort being no different as she blasted nine tries (of 22 by MUW). But in this match, it seemed that the stars aligning for her success. After all, her pair of goals came versus a school where the name "Reagan" is revered. Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan was an alum of Eureka College and also was a student-athlete (football) for the Red Devils. Perhaps the former leader of the Free World even traversed some of the same ground that was covered by the Owls' Reagan, during competitions on the campus.
On Thursday evening, in addition to getting the proverbial monkey off of The W's back with its first win of the campaign, it also marked the first college coaching "W" for Owls' Head Coach
Valerie Greer. Greer took the reins of MUW for this season and has had her team on the cusp of success for most of the year.
"I am so proud of each of our players," Greer reflected post-game. "The girls have worked so hard for this moment and you could feel how excited they were after the final whistle. This is a really special group, and to finally get a positive result is huge. Each of them played such a big role in the result tonight, especially Reagan. As a freshman, it isn't an easy task to be able to stay composed in those big moments, but she did exactly that and continues to impress us every day."
Shinn started off the scoring in the 30th minute, taking a nifty pass from teammate
Emma Hall. Shinn settled the ball and blasted a shot toward the far post to make it 1-0.
With less than three minutes until halftime, Shinn netted her second tally of the match – and third of the season – to make it the 2-0 final score.
Layla Escobedo slid the pass through to Shinn, who beat the defender, and then EC goalie Hannah Jachimiak, from close range.
The second half turned into a defensive standoff, with MUW goalkeeper
Cam Lopez extinguishing every Red Devil attack. Lopez rolled up four of her five saves in the match during the final 45-minute segment, alone.
The Owls held a decisive advantage, thanks to their aggressive attack. MUW out-shot Eureka by a 22-8 margin, overall, and held a 13-5 cushion for shots on-goal, as well.
The W will try to parlay the win into a "streak" on Saturday (1 p.m.), in a SLIAC road match at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois.
