Reeb resigns as Gibault girls soccer coach after five seasons; Schuermann hired

Matt Reeb, the girls soccer coach at Gibault High in Waterloo for the last five years, has resigned after leading the Hawks to three consecutive regional championships.

Reeb, who will continue to coach the boys soccer team at Gibault, said his decision was motivated by a desire to spend more time with his wife, Caitlin, and other family members.

“It’s pretty time-consuming,” Reeb said of coaching two teams. “I enjoyed coaching the girls. There was a lot of good that came from it. We won three straight regional championships and made two sectional-championship appearances. We never quite made it over the hump, but they have a good team coming back.”

The Hawks didn’t waste any time finding Reeb’s replacement. Hanna Schuermann, an assistant under Reeb for three season, has been hired as the new coach. Schuermann is a Gibault graduate who play two seasons at Alabama-Huntsville.

The Hawks were 8-10 this season, losing to Alton Marquette 2-1 in two overtimes in the championship game of the Class 1A Columbia Sectional.

Gibault will return several key players next season, including goalie Kelly Dooley, Carley Olson, Robyn Lindsey, Maddie O’Neill, Abby Hasenstab, Abby Phelps, Monica Shuler, Skyla Haudrich, Jess Wittenauer and Caralyn Papenberg. Olson (14 goals, six assists) and Hasenstab (13 goals, eight assists), who will be seniors, were the Hawks’ leading scorers.

“I thought it was a good time to walk away because they do have a good team coming back, lots of talent,” said Reeb, who was 49-46-5. “Most of the talent that we had were juniors this past year. The next coach doesn’t have an empty cupboard. It’s not like I’m leaving the program down. There’s a lot of opportunites for success.

“That junior class that’s going to be seniors has been a part of all three regionals. They’ve been close, so maybe next year they can get over the hump.”

Reeb credited his players for his success.

“I’ve had the blessing of coaching some talented players,” he said. “Talent makes good coaches. You’re only as good as your talent. I’ve been blessed with some very talented girls that have gone on to have successful careers at the college level and some that are still completing their high-school careers. It’s been fun, it’s been successful with wins and losses and it’s also been successful with the girls in their spiritual journeys.”

This story was originally published July 1, 2015 at 1:01 PM with the headline "Reeb resigns as Gibault girls soccer coach after five seasons; Schuermann hired."