Four years ago, then-freshmen Sarah Callaghan, Ariel Samuelson, Lindsay Garmirian and Lydia Claudio came into coach Martha Whiting's soccer program with few ideas as to what their next four years would bring.
Just two months later the four freshmen were celebrating with their teammates on a sunny November afternoon at Kraft Field after defeating Williams 3-0 to win the NESCAC title and earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The victory came after a 6-2-1 regular season in which the Jumbos won the season crown through a tiebreaker after a three-way tie approaching the postseason.
Don't be alarmed that the previous paragraph sounds strangely familiar. Four years later, the four seniors, along with classmate Cate Meeker (who joined the team her sophomore season), once again finished with a 6-2-1 mark in a tie atop the conference, and once again earned the top seed in the playoffs by virtue of a tiebreaker.
The seniors' four seasons have been unusually symmetrical. After winning the NESCAC regular season and playoff titles three years ago, the Jumbos fell in the first round of the playoffs in each of the last two seasons. The results of the 2005 playoffs are still up in the air, but the Jumbos, and especially its four seniors, are hoping that the symmetry continues through to next Sunday afternoon.
"This time around, the seniors would appreciate winning NESCACs so much more," Callaghan said. "Not only because the end of the season means the end of our careers, but because as freshmen, we didn't realize how hard it is to be that successful."
"Winning NESCACs freshman year was amazing and I can't imagine a better way to end my soccer career than by repeating that success," Samuelson added. "When I was a freshmen, I didn't quite understand how big of an accomplishment it really was to win NESCACs, but now as a senior I know and would be so appreciative to win again."
- Aman Gupta
