From a young age, Cayla Koerner knew where she wanted to play soccer at the collegiate level.

Flash forward to 2024 and the SEMO junior is scoring goals on the very same field that Chuck Koerner, her grandfather, was catching football passes on fifty-eight years ago.

“I was like, ‘you know what I'm going to give SEMO a try,’ and I went to a camp,” Koerner said. “That’s when I really just fell in love with the campus. And, I mean, just knowing that my grandpa played here, I thought that was super cool.”

Koerner, who is regarded as one of the top players in the Ohio Valley Conference, said that the lineage influenced her commitment and that it’s “an honor to play at the same school.”

Back in 1966, Chuck was named MVP of the SEMO football program after becoming the leading receiver for the team.

The family ties go even deeper.

“There was another thing that was sort of cool,” said SEMO women’s soccer head coach Heather Nelson, who is currently in her 26th season guiding the program. “She had Emma Brune a couple years ahead of her and Emma's grandfather was the quarterback in the program at the same time that Koerner, her grandfather, was a receiver in the program. So that, to me, made it an extra something where we needed to get this player here. She needs to play for SEMO.

“When she did come to the camp, she was probably four inches shorter than she is now at the time. She caught my eye at that point, and I really liked the idea that her family had a connection to our program.”

Koerner and SEMO make a perfect match. Since bursting onto the scene and earning first-team All-OVC honors as a freshman in 2022, Koerner has led the program in scoring each season. The Mahomet, Illinois product also helped hand the Redhawks to back-to-back winning seasons, including a conference semifinal appearance last November.

Nelson is more than pleased with her gradual progression.

“She's probably grown the most in that she's dangerous with both feet,” Nelson said. “She's great in one-on-one situations, breakaways and from a distance. So, she's always a player to watch for the other team to try and shut down her.”

On Thursday, Koerner will be on the field, manning a key spot as SEMO goes for its first win of the season against Southern Illinois University. She said that once the chemistry of the team begins to mesh, the wins will start to pile up.

“Everyone carries their talents and brings it all into one,” Koerner said. “I think that's what really gets us going and really creates goals and success for us.”

That sounds like a formula for more improvement and a fun season – the time of one’s life for a Redhawk carrying on a family legacy.