Seriously, at the end of the year, I got to ride through one of the most exciting and proudest experiences I’ve ever, well, experienced…
Since I took this job at USC, something about the soccer team has just been a special part of my world here, maybe because they were the first team I started up with, and first team I traveled with. I just have a cool connection with the girls… like I inherited a pile of really entertaining little sisters. I could go on, but to spare you all from a rambling stream of consciousness rant about the inner workings of the USC soccer program, let’s get to the point, shall we? And I’m going to include some more photos to try to balance out my rambling… but those will come soon…
My first 2 seasons at USC, we had great talent, but for different reasons, we could never quite put together a strong enough season to get some momentum and confidence to break through the NCAA Second Round. Even this season, we came up against a few road blocks, but instead of getting thrown and frustrated with the losses, the coaches and girls seemed to learn and move on. Along the way, we lost two outstanding players to torn ACLs – Meagan Holmes and Nini Loucks – and that hurt bad. Great players and important teammates, but I know they will be back. They are fighters.
In the last regular-season game of the year, the girls lost. They were on a road trip to Washington State and lost some focus and lost the game. But after that… they just didn’t lose!
We got shipped to freezing and crappy Missouri for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament – god I really could write a book or make a movie about this season – and that was the most stressed I’ve been. We drilled Creighton in the first round, then played Missouri in the second round. That’s when I was super-nervous, because that game was the one that would make history or represent another slam into that second-round wall. No score at half. No score at regulation. And then in overtime, Megan Ohai sends a sweet flip throw-in to Ashley Nick, who drilled a diving header in for the score!
From there, the pressure was off – but that didn’t keep me from wanting to crap my pants every game.
Next we hosted at the Coliseum… a little extra work on my end, but exciting all the same. One of our rad freshmen, Kasey Johnson, had emailed me about how she thought it would be cool to score her first goal. I told her I thought she would. And then… she did! Against Florida in the second half, Kasey – a defender – came up and headed in the winning goal to make some more USC history!
So then… we were in the Elite Eight… and we got shipped to freezing cold West Virginia. And another crazy scary battle. But thanks again to some wicked defense, and ANOTHER goal from Kase, the Trojans got it done. For someone who had a concussion early in the season, the kid came up big with that dome and knocked in another game-winning goal. AND sent us to the Final Four.
We got to play arch-rival UCLA in the semis. But by then we were seasoned travelers. The Bruins had been tucked away at home the whole damn tournament. We had been on planes and buses and in random hotels the whole time. And every time, the girls just sucked it up, dealt with it, and got the job done. In our first trip to the Final Four, the pressure was still off. UCLA had been there the previous 4 years and never won a title. So even when we went down 1-0 at halftime, my Trojans (yeah, I said it!) were all business once again. In the second half, Amy Rodriguez worked the UCLA defense and tied up the game. Later, she scored again! Caught the Bruins off-guard again and got us up 2-1! Throughout the whole game, Kristin Olsen was absolutely crazy good in goal… shut down UCLA with some ridiculous saves… made those Bruins cry when we won… our first win over UCLA in like 11 games! Fireworks went off in College Station after the game. And the coaches and I drank some great Texas beer – Shiner Bock if you happen to ever see it.
And THEN… we won the national championship! It wasn’t even really that tense of a game. Once we beat UCLA in the semis – that felt like the national championship since they were the No. 1 team – our confidence was high and our game was on. We didn’t even play that fantastic, but we made Florida State look slow and sloppy. Marihelen Tomer scored the first goal… Olsen was huge in goal once again… and then Janessa Currier scored again in the second half on the way to yet another shutout win. It was awesome. I was so stinkin proud. And still the girls were nothing but class and joy after the game. We won the effin NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!
Of course, I had to celebrate with the girls when we got home… it’s a special rite of passage that I got to share – for better or worse – with the men’s water polo team in past national championships… and it meant a lot to share in that with the girls. I got a good bunch of kids here… I’m lucky…
