KOKOMO, Ind. -- The women's soccer program at Shawnee State received an excellent performance by Zoe Sanders, who made eight saves in her first career start in goal Saturday evening against Indiana-Kokomo, but the Bears ultimately dropped a 1-0 decision to the Cougars in its final match of the 2025 season, which was held at Kokomo Municipal Stadium in Kokomo, Ind.

As with many of its matches throughout the season, Shawnee State was competitive throughout the affair, matching Indiana-Kokomo throughout as the two programs each posted four shots on goal over the contest's first 35 minutes of play. Robyn Drinkwater posted two shots on frame in the ninth and 22nd minutes that were saved by Indiana-Kokomo goalkeeper Kailee Moore, while Haynna Addy and Lucie Ashkettle followed with two shots in the 32nd and 35th minutes that were also saved by Moore. On the other side, Sanders stopped shots in the seventh, 20th, 26th and 29th minutes, helping keep the game at a scoreless tie through 35 minutes.

While Indiana-Kokomo's Avery Wilson was able to sneak a ball past Sanders off of a pass from fellow teammate Mya Hernandez, which put the Cougars up by a 1-0 tally in the 36th, Sanders recovered quickly and stopped another Wilson attempt in the 41st minute, keeping the score at a close 1-0 margin at the halftime break.

In the second half of competition, Shawnee State put together pressure at a fever pitch, putting seven shots up over the first 20 minutes of the half while holding Indiana-Kokomo to just one shot over the first 25 minutes of the final stanza. However, the Bears weren't able to capitalize, and over the final 25 minutes of the second half, SSU wasn't able to get a shot attempt away in another close loss for the Bears.

While Shawnee State finished the 2025 season 4-13-1 overall and 3-7 in River States Conference play, the Bears easily could've reserved the record -- as SSU lost nine games by one goal in 2025. Winning all of those contests would've made the Bears' record 13-4-1. Five of those one-goal losses came in RSC action, which would've flipped Shawnee State's conference mark to 8-2 if the contests had gone the opposite direction. Shawnee State also had two additional matches that were decided by two goals where its opposition punched in a goal to make the margin a two-score lead within the final five minutes of play.

Shawnee State could lose as many as six players from the 2025 version of its roster. Haynna Addy, Madison Culp, Avery Williams and Kya Edwards were all fifth-year seniors who had more than their fair share of impactful moments, while Robyn Drinkwater and Lucia Arbide are juniors in terms of eligibility but are seniors academically -- and started all season long for Shawnee State in the midfield.

Despite this, the Bears will have a great deal of pieces coming back offensively and defensively. Shawnee State is scheduled to bring back at least four of its top five scoring players to the 2026 version of the roster, including Lucie Ashkettle, Annie Coriell, Anna Sas and Lexi Conkel -- while sophomore goalkeeper Harlee Brand and each of Shawnee State's five main backline defenders -- Abby Kennedy, Isabelle Riddle, Jelena Krpan, Elizabeth Brown and reserve talent Ariane Davis -- all return as well, as does Sanders and fellow goalkeeper Brooklyn Hawes, who shared starting duties in each of the last two matches after Brand went down due to injury on Oct. 25 against Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.