Shortly after the NCAA Tournament selection show ended, the Southwestern women's soccer team sat stunned to learn the best regular season in program history would go without its well-deserved storybook ending.
Coming off a loss to Trinity in the SCAC Championship game, Southwestern's considerable tournament hopes fell at the mercy of other conference tournament results and mathematical formulas outside of the Pirates' control. A perfect storm of events left the nationally-ranked Pirates on the outside looking in.
"It was a heartbreaking end to a pretty amazing season," freshman forward Samantha Hazen recalls. "We were down for a bit, but then we realized one game doesn't define us and then reflected on all the incredible things we did accomplish this season. So it was a great year even if it didn't end as picture-perfect as we would've hoped."
Southwestern accomplished a lot in a nearly flawless season, finishing one win off the program's best mark of 16 set in the Pirates' 2019 SCAC Championship season. But with a 15-2-1 record, the 2021 Pirates set a new standard for the program's highest winning percentage at 0.861. In the process, Southwestern earned its first national ranking in program history, ended a Trinity conference-play win streak that dated back to 2008, and won the program's first SCAC regular-season title.
"This year meant a lot to us [seniors]. When we arrived, the program was coming off a terrible losing season," team captain Sam Davis says of Southwestern's 3-12-2 record in 2017. "To see how much the program has grown, now we have people talking about us [nationally], it gives us the realization we can compete with anyone."
Southwestern head women's soccer coach Linda Hamilton took over the program in 2015 and delivered a winning season in her second year, earning SCAC Coach of the Year. This season, Hamilton won her third SCAC Coach of the Year award, a testament to her ability to build a program in constant progression.
The former World Cup winner has built a sustainable program at Southwestern with a coaching philosophy that emphasizes teaching the game and raising the collective soccer IQ to empower her team to make its own decisions on the field of play.
"Our sport is very player-driven, and my job as a coach is to give them information, but when it's game time, they have the free rein to make plays happen," Hamilton explains. "We have a system and style we want to play, but how that ultimately looks is really up to the players. They're the ones living in the moment."
Davis is the perfect encapsulation of that, carrying out Hamilton's defensive game plan to near perfection while adding an extra edge to the defense with her ability to freelance outside of the system if need be.
"Sam Davis is the consummate defensive anchor. She's a fantastic leader and two-time team captain who was instrumental to the success we had this year," Hamilton exclaims. "She can read the game at a high level and anticipate where the ball is going. She's very intuitive and technical with a bit of flair."
Beyond Davis's ability to identify and extinguish scoring threats before they can occur, she is unique among center backs in the conference with her ability to win possession in Southwestern's defensive third and dribble the ball the length of the field through traffic to turn defense into offense.
"The first time I saw her do that, I was like, wow. I've never seen a center back do that before," Hazen recalls. "Her ability to weave through an entire defense is crazy."
These improvisational plays can walk that fine line between boldness and insanity, potentially leaving the backline vulnerable in pursuit of a numbers advantage.
"I would do it in practice all the time, and I think [Hamilton] always used to be a little nervous," Davis jokes. "Over the past four years, we transitioned into playing a style of soccer with more freedom, and honestly, it's all thanks to our coaches because I don't know if any other school would ever let me do that as many times as I have."
"Sometimes, she takes moments that make me have a heart attack, but she always seems to find a way to make something positive happen," Hamilton adds.
Davis, an All-Region First Team selection, and fellow senior team captain Hanna Sanderson, an All-SCAC Second Team defender, helped anchor a defense that has been a constant through their four years.
Those defensive foundations were crucial early for a team that opened the season starting seven underclassmen, including five first-years. Southwestern also relied on several other freshmen as consistent members of the playing rotation.
Despite the inexperience throughout the roster, Southwestern opened the season by winning its first six games, including a quartet of 1-0 victories that featured three wins over Mary Hardin-Baylor, McMurry, and Hardin-Simmons in less than a week.
"That was crazy because we played five games in 10 days, and I remember talking to my parents saying it was going to be a tough week," Davis says. "To win all five of those games was insane, and that's what really started our momentum to build towards the season we had."
Sophomore goalkeeper Johnna Campbell was spectacular all season but was particularly dominant during Southwestern's three-game week, recording 19 saves in three shutout wins to earn her first of two SCAC Defensive Player of the Week awards.
"Johnna singlehandedly kept us in the game against Mary Hardin-Baylor. They were coming at us hard in the first half, dominating possession, and she allowed us to win," Hamilton says of Campbell's six-save performance against the Crusaders. "She has her own style and leadership. She's an analyst in that when she makes a mistake, she can immediately figure out what happened and takes steps to correct it so that it doesn't happen again."
Southwestern has been blessed in the net, going from program cornerstone Mary Cardone to Campbell, who earned All-SCAC First Team and All-Region Second Team honors in her second season.
Campbell was indispensable in Southwestern upsetting No. 8 Trinity on Oct. 10, facing heavy winds and a Tiger attack that put up 23 shots in the first half, stopping nine of the 10 put on goal and finishing with 10 saves.
"When Johnna first came in, I didn't know anything about her, but she ended up being exactly what we needed," Davis says. "She stepped up and does her job, and the best part is she does it her way, and she's killed it every step of the way."
Sanderson did the rest, scoring both of Southwestern's goals on free kicks to go with her usual stellar brand of defense.
"Hanna had her best season and played with great joy," Hamilton says. "She has a great work rate, tremendous attitude, and leads by example. She also really helped us on offense with a few goals, assists, and some great corner kicks."
The defense allowed a young offense time to find its legs, which were turbocharged by Hazen, the SCAC Newcomer of the Year. The freshman forward hit the ground running with pace defenses couldn't match, scoring four goals and two assists in her first four games, including three game-winners.
"When we met with the team's sports psychologist, she asked us what our goals were, and for my group, it was to win our first game," Hazen says, having delivered on the game-winner in the season opener against Texas-Dallas. "Having that mindset helped set us up for success. We were a young team, but we had high expectations."
Hazen was the centerpiece of an offense that scored 39 goals, earning All-Region Second Team honors with nine goals and eight assists, but she wasn't alone.
Freshman midfielder Breana Trevino was an All-SCAC First Team selection connecting the back four defenders with the front five, controlling the game, and changing the point of attack. In addition, junior Juliet Pridgen earned her second consecutive All-SCAC Second Team award, scoring five goals with three assists, and freshman midfielder Yamila Lara earned All-SCAC Second Team.
Southwestern also had two freshmen earn All-SCAC Honorable Mention in defender Lilly Van Meter and midfielder Abrianna Morales.
"I think what set us apart this year was having all this young talent," Davis says. "We've always been a strong defensive team, but having these talented freshmen and a junior like Juliet Pridgen, they were always adapting and doing new things we hadn't done before."
And that's where the Southwestern women's soccer program is right now, pushing through with feats the program hasn't seen in its three decades of existence, from winning a conference title in 2019 to its first national ranking this season.
"We have some big holes to fill with a few of our seniors leaving, especially our two center-backs," Hamilton says. "But they've laid a great foundation for the next generation to come in and take the reins to keep pushing this program forward."
With a young core with several years remaining to grow together, the Pirates are hungry for even greater success.
"The best thing is we can build off this team chemistry. We had six or seven freshmen starting, which is crazy and a great thing to have," Hazen says. "We talked about how we never want to be passed over again [in the NCAA Tournament]. Trinity lit a fire under us, and now every returner wants nothing more than to go out and beat them for that automatic bid."
If Southwestern didn't get a storybook ending, it's only because the season is the beginning of something even more remarkable.