This season was the start of running things a little differently for the women’s soccer team.

The successful program has added “an extension to the varsity program,” as head coach Mike Winn calls it.

Coach Winn founded the women’s soccer team in 1998, and is in his 19th season of coaching the team. He has led the team to seven postseason appearances. He also serves as the Associate Athletic Director, and is in his 11th year in that position.

The program under Coach Winn has put together a JV team of sorts, where athletes, who maybe don’t want the full commitment of division two soccer or have very busy school schedules, can play with more flexibility.

“We find a lot with the incoming freshmen and nursing majors, that they choose the reserve team so they could have more time and could still continue with their soccer careers,” Winn said.

The reserve team was officially started in 2016, but this is the first season that the program has distinctly split into two separate teams. The reserve team gives current team members the option to be able to go back and forth between practices and games. Players can choose to miss a practice on the official team to participate in games with the reserve team, or vice versa.

“They could choose to do either, or move back and forth,” Winn said.

The reserve team practices twice a week and plays a five-game schedule. They compete with other reserve teams in the area, such as Rutgers, Essex, and Hofstra. There are no overnight trips, just traveling during the day.

The coach of the reserve team is Scott Hawkins.

“Scott… runs all practices and grames, exclusively with the reserve team,” Winn said. “He is a friend of a soccer alumni, and he lives local. I’ve gotten nothing but great feedback from the girls on the team about him.”

As far as recruiting future soccer players for the Setters, Coach Winn is using both teams to tell players about the options they would have at Pace.

“We are offering more opportunities and resources for recruits,” Winn said. “There are two options at Pace, and we let them know there are two options to play with two different levels of commitment.”

The reserve team starts the second week in September and ends around the same time as the real team in mid November, though the season for the reserve team has already completed. Players who have a love for the game and want to play are welcome to join the team, with or without experience. 

“Anyone can play,” Winn said. “Most of the girls on the reserve team played in high school and just love to play.”

In the future, the program will continue having two teams for the players to compete on.

“We will definitely continue to do in the future,” Winn said. “Having two functional rosters provide support for the two teams.”