Matt Olszewski
Senior Sports Writter
Having a strong support system and someone to learn from are incredibly valuable parts of life. Molly Hutter ’21, a stand-out goalkeeper for the Wooster women’s soccer team, has had both. Hutter decided to come to Wooster for the small class sizes, the ease of forming solid relationships with others and the people. No doubt, Wooster has all of those features.
As a first year, Hutter did not play much, as Maddy Ireton ’19 was the starting goalie. However, the two immediately became best friends when they met for the first time during Hutter’s overnight visit to campus. Ireton was also extremely supportive of Hutter when she was one of the team’s new players.. “[Maddy] was always there on the sideline cheering me on, if I made a mistake she was always the first one to come up to me and teach me how to learn from it, and she really helped me grow as a person and as a player,” said Hutter. She added, “Maddy always rooted for my success no matter what.”
During her sophomore year at Wooster in 2018, Hutter began to take a much larger role on the team. She appeared in all 20 games, making 16 starts, and tallied 41 saves for a record of 10-2-2. Her .820 save percentage was fourth in the NCAC and her 0.062 goals against average ranked her second overall. In addition she also made the NCAC Academic Honor Roll.
Wooster women’s soccer has come a long way and had tremendous success in recent years. The team won their first NCAC title in program history in Fall 2018, but that has not been the only example of their success. They were back-to-back Conference champions in 2018 and 2019.
“My two favorite memories as a Wooster athlete have been beating DePauw on their home turf to win another conference title, and beating Case Western to make it to the next round of the NCAA Tournament,” Hutter reminisced.
In the fall season of 2019, Hutter’s success and incredible play continued. She was All-Region Second Team, All-Ohio Second Team, All-NCAC Honorable Mention and USCA Scholar All-Region. Not to mention, she appeared and started in all 21 games, and tied first in the nation with 15 shutouts, allowing only 11 goals in 21 games. Her coaches have described her as “composed, calm and hard-working.”
Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, there were no fall season athletic competitions in 2020. Despite the lack of a season, she and her teammates have remained close, and Hutter loves how her coaches are not just her coaches, but great friends and mentors in life. “They’ve been so supportive of me and the team, and they want what is best for us,” she commented. “They love being able to keep up with us and want us to succeed later in life and not just in college.” Hutter also described her favorite thing about her team: “Our motivation and drive to win are the two things that come to mind first. Everyone pushes each other and wants to be successful.”
When asked about what Wooster has taught her that will stay with her throughout life, she mentioned a few things, “I’ve learned to communicate more effectively, to be more confident as an individual which has led to a lot of my success, and to believe in myself all the time.”
Lastly, the biggest piece of advice she would give her first-year self is to “trust the process, find the right people to be around and form an overall strong support system.”
