Step into the “family room” of the WashU Women’s Soccer team, and you’ll find that the trophies fade behind names on lockers, big sister lineages, and conversations that stretch well beyond soccer.
Coach Jim Conlon calls them a family, but not in a casual, cliché way. Rather, it’s reference to an intentional framework where each player develops unwavering commitment to caring for her teammates.
That’s why the NCAA Division III National Championship title wasn’t the pinnacle of their 2025 season. It was just the consequence of a culture powered by love, loyalty, and the daily work of showing up for each other.
Building a family, not just a roster
Conlon’s coaching philosophy has always been rooted in helping young people become whatever they aspire to be. From early in his coaching career, he understood that if he could pair the right college environment with the right type of person, the outcomes would go far beyond wins on the field. That mindset became the cornerstone of his program when he arrived at WashU in 2008.
Within this soccer program, belonging isn’t a metaphor; it’s structured. Conlon recruits the human before the athlete, paying close attention to character, curiosity, and how a young person might fit into the “family room.”
Every first-year player inherits a lineage—a big sister, mom, grandma. At alumni games, graduates return hoping to meet their great-granddaughters.
That design quietly reinforces something powerful. When adversity hits, players already know they’re held. For instance, when first-year defender Monica Morales earned playing time before two seniors, what she remembers most isn’t pressure, but generosity.
“The freshmen all really felt embraced by the program and welcomed,” Morales said. “The upperclassmen made us feel comfortable enough to be able to perform on the field and compete at a really high level. They built me up and wanted me to do well for the team.”
First-year forward Heidi Fesler said their culture makes space for both competition and care, honoring the legacy they’ve inherited while shaping their own.
“Monica and I have only been here one year, but you can already tell how important and special this culture is,” said Felser. “Yes, everyone competes, but it never turns toxic. We honor the legacy of the players before us while also running our own race as a team.”
The lineage, care and daily lift have become the team’s competitive edge and is the foundation that carried them deeper into a season that defied expectations.
Excellence, practiced daily
The team’s unbeaten streak—49 straight games without a loss or tie—is staggering. But ask the players how they maintained it, and they point to their consistent commitment to process over outcome.
For Sophie Viscovich, a junior midfielder, discipline starts with narrowing her focus to whatever the team faces next.
“Every game matters; every opponent matters, conference play or not,” said Viscovich. “Something we take a lot of pride in is the mindset `one game at a time.’ Like, we have a job to do this Friday night against whoever we’re playing, and our results next Friday won’t mean anything if we don’t perform this Friday. Sticking with that one-game mentality has been huge for us.”
But their one‑game mindset is only part of it; the real strength shows up in how they prepare together. Putting in the extra work isn’t viewed as individual grind but as a shared responsibility. Senior Marilee Karinshak often reminds teammates to bring someone with them on the journey, a small phrase that captures how seriously they take collective growth.
“When you bring your sister along, those extra touches, that extra prep, is never done alone,” Karinshak said. “It’s how we pull each other upward.”
That shared accountability doesn’t stop at the edge of the field. It shapes everything they do, and for a program built on raising one another’s standards, that includes how they navigate the classroom.
“Coach Conlon told me during recruiting that our priorities are always school, soccer, social, and in that order,” said Karinshak. “The staff and faculty are incredibly understanding. If I have a lab during practice, the conversation becomes, ‘How can we accommodate this?’ Maybe I make up a lift, come late, or we adjust practice. That kind of flexibility doesn’t happen everywhere.”
Calm in the big moments
The team’s balanced and collective approach is reinforced by what they call “a goldfish mentality.”
“Everyone’s going to make mistakes,” Karinshak said. “What really matters is how you respond and how you let it affect you. We’ve got this saying—goldfish mentality—because if something happens, we’ve already forgotten it. We’re moving on to the next thing.”
Because of that approach, the team isn’t weighed down by fear of mistakes.
“I might make a mistake, but I trust the person next to me to have my back,” Karinshak said. “That reminder helps you not be so hard on yourself. We’ll even say it to each other in practice, ‘Hey, remember, it doesn’t matter. Just keep going and do your best.’”
That ability to release mistakes doesn’t just keep them loose, it builds a steadiness they can return to when pressure spikes. For instance, when the semifinal stretched into a 14-round penalty shootout, the second-longest in NCAA history, the moment was tense, but familiar.
“It was a super stressful situation, especially facing a conference rival with their parents getting rowdy during the PKs,” said Viscovich. “But we found this calm energy with each other. We trusted our preparation, and everyone who stepped up had been preparing for that exact moment.”
That composure only deepened as the shootout wore on, round after round stretching the limits of nerves and endurance. What grounded them wasn’t the scoreboard, but the certainty that no one was standing in that moment alone.
“We felt the support of all our sisters who weren’t taking kicks,” said Viscovich. “They trusted us no matter how it ended, and that support makes you less afraid to make mistakes. Whether you make the PK or miss it, it doesn’t change our family. That mindset was a gamechanger, especially in a shootout that went 14 rounds.”changer
Then, a couple days later, at the national title match, the Bears went into halftime down 1-0. But, instead of tightening up, something else happened.
“Coach pulled us in and had Maddie Foley start a dance circle,” Fesler said. “You’d think it’s crazy to be dancing while down 1–0 in a championship game, but it got everyone in the best mood, and we knew we could do it. We went into the second half with our heads up ready to go win the Natty.”
Then, they did.