Judson women relish opportunity

It’s been a year of firsts for the Judson University women’s soccer team.

The Eagles became ranked nationally for the first time in school history (currently No. 15), and put up a stellar record of 16-2-2 on the season, the best in school history. Now they get to take their talents to Florida, where they will compete in the NAIA National tournament for the first time in school history and play No. 8 Embry Riddle University in the opening round Saturday at 5 p.m. in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Eagles’ head coach Diego Cevallos is extremely proud of his team for accomplishing so many things that Judson women’s soccer has never done before.

“I can’t even describe the pride that I feel toward each and every one of our student athletes,” said Cevallos. “At the beginning of the year, we would meet throughout the week in between training sessions. We would talk about our goals and everything we wanted to accomplish individually, as a team, and as a program. To actually realize those goals, those dreams, it’s almost surreal. Everything has gone the way we once spoke about, but nothing has been given to us for free. These girls have earned everything.”

“We’re definitely all very excited,” said sophomore goalkeeper and Huntley alum Sara Hoffman. “We feel pressure, but at the same time we’re anxious to play the game and give it all we can. We don’t have anything to lose, so we’re just going to give it our all.”

The team traveled to Florida Wednesday to begin their preparation and while the Eagles will be enjoying the warm weather and beautiful surroundings of the Sunshine State, they know they have work to be done.

“It’s amazing being out here, almost surreal,” said junior midfielder and fellow Huntley alum Kristina Barreto. “It’s beautiful, absolutely amazing, but we know we’re here on business and to get things done. We’re all feeling the pressure, but it’s a good pressure. We’re anxious to show them what we’ve got on Saturday.”

Cevallos knows the Eagles are there on business too, and they will be working harder each day as the first NAIA tournament game in Judson history approaches.

“We went for a nice run on the beach to get the blood flowing,” said Cevallos. “We’re going to go a bit harder in the coming days before the match, and let them get accustomed to the humidity and heat and see how they respond. We’ll also work on some tactical adjustments that we want to pay attention to and be able to perform.”

Having accomplished so much this season is a wonderful thing for Cevallos, but he and his girls are staying humble.

“These accomplishments are awesome to have, because you know you’re doing something great,” he said. “But you can’t focus on it being the first time nationally ranked or it being the first time in this tournament. We constantly need to talk about that, we’ve had to stay focused and stay humble and take these accomplishments with a humble heart.”

The Judson women have an intense passion for the game of soccer and an incredible team chemistry, which is a huge factor in their successful season. The love of the game fuels them to be better and it has shown in every game, and is sure to be prominent in the NAIA tournament.

“We’ve all grown up playing this game,” said Hoffman. “Stepping out onto that field with this group of girls is amazing. Everyone knows each other and what we do, and we’re comfortable with each other. Soccer is our passion, it’s what we love to do. When we get to do it with the people that we love and have the chemistry that we do, it’s awesome.”

“This is our biggest passion,” added Barreto. “We’re a family on and off the field, and we play like it. It’s just a great experience. Everyone is like a sister out there.”

As far as an edge over the competition, the Eagles believe that their team chemistry is so rare that it can be an advantage during games as well.

“Our team chemistry is something amazing,” said Hoffman. “Not every team gets to experience it. Having that chemistry gives us an advantage, because we know how the others play and know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. We know where the others are going to be at a certain point in time.”

“We know exactly the type of players we have out there,” added Barreto. “If we tell someone to get there next time, they’re not going to take it to heart. Whatever happens on the field stays on the field. We just work together as a team, and that’s our biggest strength.”

One of the great and at the same time deadly things about soccer is how fickle the sport really is. Bounces can be extremely lucky, a ball can hit the post on a penalty kick, or there could be 60 mph winds like there were in Judson‘s last CCAC tournament game. Cevallos knows how tricky the sport is; and while he is confident that his team will play hard like they have all season, he knows that anything can and will happen.

“One thing I’ve always said as a coach is that in the game of soccer, especially women’s soccer, anything can happen on any given day,” he said. “You can beat the top team in the nation, or the worst team in the nation can beat you. That’s the beauty of soccer, it’s so unexpected. We are confident that we can do great things, but the game is still the game.”

“We want to continue the confidence that we have for our team; but we’ve got to stay focused and realize that if we don’t bring it, then we’re not going to get the results that we want. We just have to come prepared and put it all on the field.”