Jordan Jacobo
Sports editor
Head women’s soccer coach Yi Lin Liu stepped down from his position Oct. 21 after a tumultuous eight weeks of competition during which the team posted a record of 4-10.
The resignation came after nearly two months of talk by players who voiced frustrations with Liu’s coaching style. What started as minor off-handed comments escalated to such a level that Athletic Director Scott Carnahan held several meetings with both Liu and the team.
On Oct. 22, Carnahan offered no comment on the specific reasons orcontext surrounding Liu’s stepping down.
“We have some things to figure out as far as what we’re going to do with the position after the season is over,” he said.
Dominic Doty, who began the season as an assistant coach for men’s soccer, will replace Liu as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
On Oct. 23, Sophomore goalkeeper Kelsey Hasselblad said each player had an individual meeting with Liu during the first week of October. The mediation, she said, was prompted by Carnahan after he received several complaints from parents of players on the team.
“We all got to bring up concerns and anything we wanted to express to the coach,” Hasselblad said. “He got the feedback and was trying to make changes accordingly.”
After the individual meetings with Liu, the players met with Carnahan and Senior Woman Administrator for Athletics Dawn Graff-Haight.
On Oct. 21, Liu met with Carnahan in his office. Later that day, Liu officially stepped down.
Liu said he did not want to comment on his resignation.
“I didn’t think he would step down in the middle of the season,” sophomore forward Sara Blake said. “I thought we would wait it out until the end of the season, and then get a new coach for next year.”
Liu came to Linfield after 11 seasons of coaching at Hanover College in Indiana. While at Hanover, his record was 74-97-9.
The team resumed practice with Doty and assistant coach Kelly Baker on Oct. 21. Blake said the change lifted the team’s spirit and refocused its play.
“I love it,” she said. “You can tell there is a big attitude change. All the girls are out there playing soccer and having fun. He’s out there coaching us, telling us what to do, and the energy is positive.”
For Blake and Hasselblad, Doty is their third coach in fewer than two full seasons. The team has had six different head coaches since 2000.
Carnahan said the athletic department is currently bogged down with proposing its budget for next year and handling accreditation, but he said he hopes to have more specific details on the search for a new head coach by January.
Hasselblad said Liu’s coaching style was in stark contrast to what the team learned from its previous head coach, Melanie Langley.
Liu was collected and focused on the technical aspects of the game, while Langley focused more on physical play and conditioning, Hasselblad said.
“There was a general concern for the productivity at practices,” she said. “Drills weren’t very productive. We weren’t learning about team defense. People just weren’t enjoying the game anymore. Intensity was really low at practice.”
Among the grievances, Liu’s frequent position, tactical and substitution changes were a source of inconsistency that made for the development of the conflict.
“It kind of got out of and,” Hasselblad said. “There was a lot of frustration.”
Freshman forward Sarah Walton said the athletic department and women’s soccer program spent weeks working together to come up with a solution.
Despite losing its coach, the team remained optimistic about the possibility of starting over, even if it means just finishing out the final six games on a positive note.
The ‘Cats play Lewis & Clark College on Oct. 25 and Pacific University on Oct. 26.
Despite losing eight polished seniors after the end of this season, the program will return 19 players from its roster, which includes 10 current freshmen.
“We can hang with every team, and we play hard,” Walton said. “I think as long as the girls come back each year and we all work together, we have a bright
future.”
