By Pat Costello
The women’s soccer team finished its season last Thursday in heartbreaking fashion. After the normally impenetrable Department of Defense allowed a 15th minute goal to slip through, the Rams faced an uphill battle against a formidable George Mason team. The Rams knew how good the Patriots’ defense could be after tying them 2-2 in their previous encounter. It took almost the entire game for the Rams to break through, but they did eventually equalize the score. In the 89th minute, sophomore forward Brooke Salmon scored her team-high sixth goal of the season, sending the Rams into a frenzy and the game into overtime. “I was planning on moving Brooke next season to another position, but I may need to rethink that,” said head coach Jessica Clinton.
The goal was nearly a mirror image of the season before, when senior defender Brianna Blunck pulled off a similar feat against the same team. “I just really think that it’s a belief,” said Clinton. “A belief that however long it takes, it takes, and when seconds are counting down, we as a team could do it. It just so happens that it is always against (George) Mason.”
Clinton knows that the sophomore is a tremendous asset. “Brooke Salmon has really taken on a terrific role within the team,” she said. “We’ve seen her development on a daily basis. She is playing like a junior and senior and we constantly remind ourselves that she’s only a sophomore!”
Unfortunately, the Rams’ defense was unable to hold back the Patriots’ offensive attack, allowing a 97th minute golden goal, which ultimately proved to be the fatal blow for the season. The Rams finished with a 10-5-5 record, while going 5-2-4 in-conference.
The loss marks the final game the seniors would play for the Rams. Clinton knows just how important the senior class has been to the ongoing achievement of the team. “I think I’ve said a lot to the seniors privately,” she said. “Their development, commitment and willingness has been a reason why the team has been so successful.”
“They were second semester, first year players when I took over the program and I’m not sure they really knew what they were in for,” Clinton continued. “They didn’t complain, but it took some time for them to believe in what we were trying to accomplish.”
Clinton cited the work ethic of the seniors as a main reason for the team’s character. “The success of the team has really been on this class. Each class is unique and each class builds upon something,” she said. “But this senior class was the ones that wore the hard hats each day. They became prepared for everything and were very good at what they did. They took care of a lot. They didn’t have to, but they wanted to.”
“If you dissect what a leader or what leadership looks like, it was this senior class,” Clinton said.
Clinton knows that the freshmen she has now have the potential to be great as well, but is something that will have to come in time. “We watch our first year players and say, ‘Okay, we have three more seasons with them, this is what they need to get better at or we need this player to be able to do this by next year,’” she said. “It’s a growing process.”
As to whether or not she has started thinking about next season, Clinton said she’s not quite ready yet. “No, certainly not. I’m still enjoying the moment with the current team,” she said. “We still have things to do with this team. We still have much to celebrate and I’d like to celebrate that as much as possible.”
