A new era begins for the Saint Xavier University softball program. After taking her team to the 2016 NAIA National Championship for the first time in program history, long-time head coach, Myra Minuskin, has decided to step down as head softball coach.
Minuskin is replaced by Erin Mollohan, who acted as Minuskin’s assistant coach for the last four years. Mollohan has large shoes to fill, as the former long-time, tenured mentor finished her career with 623 wins in 868 games.
Over the past four seasons, Minuskin and Mollohan led the Cougars to: an NAIA Softball Opening Round appearance in every year, three CCAC regular season titles, two CCAC tournament titles, two NAIA Softball World Series appearances, and an NAIA National Championship runner up. The duo helped the softball program become one of the most successful sports in school history by compiling a record of 189-35-4.
It is unclear whether there were other motives in Minuskin’s decision to step down, but she told the Saint Xavier University Athletics Director, Bob Hallberg, it was time for her to explore other career opportunities that did not involve athletics.
Mollohan brings a vast amount of experience to a successful Saint Xavier program. The new head coach told SXU Athletics, “I want to thank Coach Bob Hallberg and all of the administration here at Saint Xavier University for this amazing opportunity to lead the Cougar softball team,”. Mollohan added, “I’m looking forward to carrying on the tradition of excellence that was built by Coach Myra over the years. We have such a great group of student-athletes in this program and we are all eager to begin another fantastic year.”
The Cougars begin their fall season against Olivet Nazarene University on September 22.
CCAC Honors:
Saint Xavier goalie, Alex Perry, was awarded the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week. The senior totaled a career-high of 19 saves in a 0-0 effort against Cornerstone University.
With five minutes remaining in the final overtime, Perry came up with a huge save to preserve the shutout. She totaled 24 saves throughout the week.
The women’s soccer team will play Davenport University in Michigan on Saturday, September 10 at 12:00PM.
Mike Rankin
Senior Sports Editor