The women’s soccer team took an international trip to Italy and France during spring break to do community service and tour the countries at the start of the team’s spring season.

During the team’s spring break, the coaches and players traveled to Italy and France. They were able to help underprivileged 11-year-old girls with the program “Youth Sport.” The team also helped 11-year-old boys at a youth boys’ academy.

In the team’s free time, players attended a soccer match between Inter Milan and Feyenoord.

Head Coach Stephen Salas hoped that the team would have been able to take an international trip when he was associate head coach of the team for six years. Now in his second year as head coach, Salas has been able to take the team on its first international trip in program history.

Salas described the trip as “a once-in-a-lifetime experience” since a lot of the team had never traveled internationally. He said the trip was impactful for his team as it gave them the chance to grow closer and to serve the community.

Amelia Miller, freshman midfielder from Winter Park, Florida, said the trip helped her get more involved in the community and allowed her to create new friendships.

“Trying new things and a new culture and food and everything was just an unreal experience,” said Miller. “I definitely think that we all became closer through the trip.”

Before the trip, the team started its spring season, playing against Southern Methodist University. The team won the game 2-1 to gain its first win over a power-four opponent.

Miller said the win was a big highlight for the team and will help prepare them for the upcoming game against Texas Tech on Saturday.

The spring season has provided an opportunity for the team to grow from the fall season when the team went 2-7-8. In the spring season, the team is 3-0.

Salas said that Peyton Hill, redshirt sophomore forward from Laguna Niguel, California, and Amelia Legget, junior forward from Wylie, have both stood out in the spring season. Hill and Legget both had multi-goal games during the spring season.

Abby Smith, graduate midfielder from Flower Mound, scored two goals in the team’s recent doubleheader match. Smith transferred from LSU last season.

“Our biggest mission is to compete for a conference championship as a team,” Salas said. “So, what we’ve really built into is our team camaraderie, our team discipline and our team standards.”