RICHMOND, Ky. – To say that the Eastern Kentucky University soccer team had a good 2016 would be an understatement. Picked in the preseason to finish 10^th out of 11 teams in the Ohio Valley Conference, many expected first year head coach Nick Flohre to use 2016 as a rebuilding season. That could not have been further from what happened, as the Colonels set a multitude of records on their way to the most successful season in program history.
 
Eastern won a share of its first-ever OVC regular season title and finished with 13 wins, eclipsing the previous record of 10 (2012). To earn those 13 wins, the team went on two different winning streaks. The first streak of eight matches was, at the time, the third-longest in the country and included five non-conference wins, a school record. The second streak of five matches tied the previous best winning streak (2010), and helped push EKU to eight OVC wins, also a school record.
 
On the stat sheet, the Colonels broke nearly every season-long record. The 30 goals netted eclipse the previous mark of 22 (2012), while the 77 points scored by the team crushed the old record of 62 (2012). EKU's 265 shots also topped the old record of 253 (2012).
 
The Colonels' defense proved to be stellar in 2016, securing 11 shutouts, breaking the old record of eight (2008). Second team All-OVC goalkeeper Anna Hall also set a new mark for goals against average with 0.78, besting the previous mark of 0.95 (Stephanie Lynch, 2008).
 
As for individual records, first team All-OVC selection Jordan Foster netted eight goals, breaking the previous record of seven (Nikki Donnelly, 2012 and Cassie Smith, 2014), and also notched five assists, besting the previous record of four (Donnelly, 2012 and Emily D'Italia, 2012). Those totals helped her break the old record of 16 points in a season (Donnelly, 2012) with 21 points.
 
Fellow first team All-OVC member Cassie Smith finished off her senior season in style, by not only tying the new single-season record for game-winning goals with four (tied with Jordan Foster this season) but by breaking the all-time program record for goals. Smith ends her EKU career with 21 goals, topping Donnelly's 17 goals. Smith netted seven goals in 2016, tying both her previous season best and the former single-season record.
 
EKU also set new highs for postseason awards. Flohre won the first OVC Coach of the Year award in program history. Foster and Smith were named All-OVC First Team, the first time multiple Colonels were named to the first team since 2012.  Hall was selected as second team All-OVC, and freshman Marian Wolski was tabbed to the OVC All-Newcomer Team.