The team started off the season strong, winning the first four regional games, which earned the team a spot in the RMAC tournament, Damian Clarke, the head coach of the Women’s soccer team, said.
In late September, FLC lost a game to Western State Colorado University, Clarke said.
“At that point in the season we were ranked 5th in the country and ended up losing to a second year program,” he said. “We went into the game thinking that we should probably win but Western did really well to counter attack us and beat us in that game. I think that was a little bit of a motivator for us.”
From that point on, everything has been pretty par for the course. That was the loss that sparked the rest of the season, Clarke said.
“This season has been amazing,” said Grace Sheridan, a sophomore on the team. “We have come a long way from the first couple of games, and I know we haven’t played our best yet, we just need to keep grinding, one game at a time.”
The team has had a great season, and has learned from their losses. Therese Romero, a student on the team, said that
“We have definitely gotten better each game, so I know that there is more ahead of us, we’ve yet to reach our peak,” she said.
“The last ten games have been really indicative of how good we are,” Clarke said.
The RMAC tournament was held in Golden, Colo. on Nov. 8 where FLC played Metropolitan State University of Denver, winning the semifinal round 1- 0, Clarke said.
“We finished third in the RMAC tournament, making us 24th in the country,” he said.
“Getting to the NCAA tournament gives us the opportunity to achieve the ultimate goal, which is winning a national championship,” he said. “We have set ourselves up to continue to face some of the goals that we have set.”
This is an opportunity for the team to chase their goals and finish strong, Clarke said.
FLC will host the first-round games on Nov. 15. The winner of the game will go on to play the number two seed team on Nov. 17.
The two finalists in the region will advance to the third and quarterfinal-round competitions that will be played on Nov. 22 and 24.
The semifinal and championship games will be played Dec. 5 and Dec. 7 at Blanchard Woods Park in Evans, Georgia.