The following is an excerpt from UIS Director of Athletics Laura Liesman. The column appeared in The State Journal-Register on August 14, 2022.
Although the calendar says that summer is still here for another month, the 2022-23 athletic year is already underway as our UIS student-athletes began returning to campus at the beginning of the month.
Last year proved to be a memorable one with much success for the Prairie Stars. In the fall, the men’s soccer team had its best season since legendary head coach Aydin Gonulsen was roaming the sidelines. UIS was one game away from winning a GLVC Regular Season Championship and advanced to the conference tournament championship game. The Prairie Stars earned their first NCAA Tournament berth and sent a huge crowd away from Kiwanis Stadium happy after a thrilling 2-1 win over Maryville University in the national postseason tournament.