News Magazine of the UW Department of Communication
By Honsen Lin, COM361
It has been three long years since the Washington women's soccer team made the NCAA tournament. The last time the Huskies qualified in the field of 64 was in 2004, the best year ever for the women's team.
That year, the Dawgs went 17-5-1, 5-3-1 in the Pac-10, and made it to the Elite Eight (quarterfinals) of the NCAA tourney before falling 3-1 to Princeton .
Since then, the Huskies have experienced the disappointment of three straight losing seasons, meaning the players who are now seniors have never played in the postseason.
As the 2005 season opened, the Huskies believed they could make a tournament run similar to 2004.
Dana Stirn, now a senior defender, had just finished her freshman season in which she started 21 of 23 games.
“I kept looking forward to what the future could bring,” Stirn said. “My freshman year was a great start.”
But in 2005, the Huskies went winless and fell straight into the conference cellar. 2006 was not great either; Washington went 7-12-1 (2-6-1 Pac-10) and rose to ninth in the conference. Last year, the Dawgs improved their standing in the Pac-10 (2-6-1, tied for seventh), but their overall record regressed to 5-13-1.
As the team struggled, so did Stirn. She red-shirted the 2005 and 2006 seasons due to a knee injury.
“I was like the captain of the crippled crew for a few years,” Stirn said. She credited the coaches, particularly head coach Lesle Gallimore, and her teammates with supporting her through her injuries.
“There was never the option of quitting. She never brought it up,” Stirn said of Gallimore. “She believed in me, which made me believe in myself. It's been rough.”
Stirn also empathized with the incoming freshmen of 2005.
“They got recruited and came here, excited to play on a team that just made it to the Elite Eight. And then they came and had not a win at all,” she said.
Jenna Robison was one of those freshmen. Now a senior midfielder, she admits to having had second thoughts about playing for the Huskies that first year.
“That was quite the show going on -- just like ‘Whoa, what did I get myself into,'” Robison said of her freshman year.
But she stayed.
“After the last two years, I knew I was going to stay here and, hopefully, just find a win somehow, and that's exactly what we did,” she said. “I'm happy I stayed because all my friends are here, and we built a family basically, so I'm excited I stayed.”
Senior forward Melissa Beal, however, never despaired during the three losing seasons.
“I wasn't really disappointed at all,” Beal said. “We had three years of good teams. It just never clicked in order for us to beat [those] tie[s] or losses where we lost 1-0 to put goals away.”
This season, the Huskies' found a good balance of youth, experience and talent and qualified for their ninth NCAA tournament.
“[I'm] really proud of how resilient they've been over the last three years, in particular, and how hard they've worked to get to this point,” Gallimore said of the seniors.
For Robison and Beal, this is their first postseason experience.
“We've struggled a lot,” Robison said. “To persevere over that and get into the tournament, it's a great feeling for me and my teammates.”
Beal agrees.
“It's the first year that my class has done this, and I think it's about time and it's kind of exciting,” Beal added.
Stirn, having been to the playoffs before, is excited too, and she brings veteran insight.
“As a freshman, it was all new to me,” she said. “The girls on the team had been to the NCAA's before. I just think it's not something to get intimidated by.”
The three seniors have played integral parts in getting the Huskies to the NCAA tournament this season. Gallimore added that the seniors' personalities allow each of them to provide leadership in different ways.
“All three give something different,” Gallimore said. “Dana is obviously an inspiration to our team. J-Ro (Robison) is a calming effect the way she plays. Melissa Beal is a little bit more laid back and kind of behind-the-scenes, great-team-chemistry person.”Stirn feels that this is the year that provides a fitting end to her career.
“I've been waiting for a year like this to end on,” she said “and these are the girls I want to end with.”
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