For those outside of Brigham Young University’s women’s soccer program, the team’s ongoing and historic run in the 2021 NCAA women’s soccer tournament appeared unlikely earlier this season.
The Cougars dropped their first two road games before losing a rare home match in Provo on Sept. 18 to in-state rival Utah State.
But after claiming a spot in the College Cup — U.S. college soccer’s Final Four — by defeating South Carolina on Nov. 27, BYU midfielder/returned missionary Olivia Wade confirmed that she and her teammates are right where they expect to be.
“This is something we’ve worked so hard for — so, honestly, it’s not a big surprise to make the Final Four,” Wade told the Church News. “Obviously, we are so excited and grateful that we get this opportunity. It’s been something that we’ve really worked for. It’s just something that we have expected out of ourselves this season.”
Qualifying for the College Cup is a monumental task. BYU has rostered outstanding teams in years past, yet never made it to the Final Four.
Still, Wade and her fellow Cougars know that their toughest challenges await. BYU plays West Coast Conference rival Santa Clara — the defending national championship team that defeated the Cougars in October — on Friday, Dec. 3, 6:30 PST, at Santa Clara’s Stevens Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
“We’ve looked forward to getting another chance with Santa Clara — and what better time and place to do it than in the Final Four on their home field,” said Wade.
If BYU wins Friday, they will play for the national title on Monday, Dec. 6, 5 p.m. PST on ESPNU, against the victor of Friday’s other semifinal game between Rutgers and Florida State.
“I don’t think the College Cup thing has really hit yet, but it’s just a huge accomplishment,” head coach Jennifer Rockwood told BYU media following the South Carolina game. “I know few people get an opportunity to coach in one or play in one, so we’ll make the most of it.”
Rockwood, who has directed the Cougar soccer team since the program’s inception as a sanctioned sport in 1995, said the 2021 squad is the best team the school has had “on both sides of the ball.”
Soccer’s Final Four, added All-American Mikayla Colohan, is “what you work for your whole life. I’ve wanted to be in this position the whole time I’ve been at BYU.”
Colohan was recently named a semifinalist for the 2021 MAC Hermann Trophy awarded to college soccer’s top player.
Representing things bigger than soccer
While serving a Spanish-speaking mission in Houston, Texas, Wade was a 24-7 representative for the Church.
Serving a full-time mission and competing in college soccer are vastly different activities, but Wade still feels a familiar duty each time she pulls on a jersey emblazoned with the name of the Church-owned school.
“It’s a huge responsibility that we have to represent the Church’s school,” she said. “We get to be missionaries in a ton of different ways. This is an opportunity for me, as well as for other girls on the team, to kind of fill a missionary role, represent the school and try to represent our Savior through everything we do.”
Wade added that the eternal perspective she developed through full-time missionary service remains with her. “I understand that what is most important is obviously much bigger than soccer.”
‘Carolyn Can’
Enduring a college soccer season can be physically grueling. Shins, calves, ankles and quads are constantly being iced and taped to treat or prevent another day’s strains and injuries.
And since the beginning of the BYU program, scores of Cougar soccer players have relied upon the school’s sports medicine director Carolyn Billings to keep them patched-up and pitch-ready.
Wade and her teammates, past and present, believe that Billings’ care goes far beyond athletic tape and injury rehab. She is also an example of fortitude and grit. Besides losing multiple loved ones to accidents, she has battled repeated bouts of cancer.
But Billings carries on, driven by her gospel testimony and her relationships with players that don’t end with soccer seasons and player eligibility. She recently shared her story with BYU’s “The Athlete’s Journal.”
Billings’ commitment to service continues to lift spirits. It is her prayer, she writes, “that I would recognize the people that crossed my path that needed my help. I promised that I would stop what I was doing, no matter what, and help them.”
Wade said she is blessed and excited to experience BYU’s first Final Four alongside Billings. Meanwhile, current and former Cougar players wear T-shirts with the words “Carolyn Can” printed across the back.
“Carolyn is somebody that’s never given up on us or the program,” Wade said. “Even when we’ve had tough games, she has always believed that we could accomplish what we’ve done now.
“We would not have been able to do it without her. … She’s not just a trainer for us, she is a life coach.”
