By Brandon Petersen
Westcliff women's soccer head coach Jack Gidney uses the metaphor of a tree when describing his team and the role his 2022 seniors played in planting that tree.
It was a group that collectively introduced women's soccer as Westcliff's most successful program a year before Covid hit.
It was a group that experienced two coaching changes in three years, and was absolutely snake-bitten a year ago, losing the entire season, in essence, to various injuries and spells of extreme bad luck.
It was also the group that went to the mattresses to fight for Gidney, an assistant last year who the team was incredibly vocal about Westcliff elevating to their leader.
"I want to especially thank those seniors," Gidney said. "There has been a big change in the environment and standards of this group. For seniors, that's incredibly tough, because the time on their clock is so short.
"They were asked to plant the tree that they will never receive the joy of sitting under. I am so pleased for them that they leave as conference champions, and with a national tournament appearance.
"They have begun the change here. Get used to seeing us up there now."
Gidney isn't kidding.
The Warriors are greedy. They want more.
Next year, they expect to win both the regular season and tournament titles.
They expect to receive invitations the national tournament yearly.
"Serial Winning," as Gidney describes it, is the new routine.
Those who have gotten to know Gidney in his first season at the helm take him seriously when he speaks.
After losing to Cal Pac regular season champion Embry-Riddle late in the season, Gidney said outright that the Warriors would beat the Eagles in California.
Weeks later, it was the Warriors dancing on the turf at La Sierra while the formerly undefeated Eagles walked off the field without a Cal Pac championship they had assumed was a formality.
"We strongly believe on any day we can beat anybody in front of us," Gidney said. "We are adamant about backing up that sentiment."
Gidney believes the Warriors would have beaten NAIA No. 1 Keiser if the conditions were equal for both sides.
As it turned out, the Warriors played Keiser on their home turf in Florida with a number of disadvantages to contend with.
The Warriors travelled to Florida on very short notice in split groups with varying departure times. It took 11 hours to get there, and complications at the hotel left the team getting to bed around 1 a.m., having already lost three hours on the trip back east.
Westcliff then kicked off with Keiser at 8 a.m. on West Coast time.
It was a miracle they didn't get blown out.
"It was a fantastic experience, but a real whirlwind," Gidney said. "We didn't get to train or acclimate, you're up first thing and out the door to play the No. 1 team in the nation before you've even had time to adjust your watch."
Gidney said the effects of the travel and lack of sleep was evident on the pitch after the initial adrenaline of opening both halves wore off.
The Warriors found net early, shocking Keiser.
"We caused them trouble, pinned them back in their half, and they were very visibly and audibly worried," Gidney said. "Sadly, the fatigue of the body and mind from the last 24 hours kicks in and at that point, you're just physically trying to hold on against a hugely experienced side who does this every year.
"It was normal for them, and new for us."
Keiser eventually evened the match on a PK, and took control midway through the second half.
But the Warriors managed to make a little history, nonetheless.
Keeper Ana Martinez Moreno set a program-best mark of 11 saves in the match.
Angelina Espinal scored the first national tournament goal in program history, and her goal was the first of the entire NAIA tournament.
"If you told me when I got the job at the end of January that we would finish Cal Pac champion, second in league, multiple records broken and in the national competition, I would have though you were nuts," Gidney said. "However, with this group and staff how they are, we still look back at the blips and dropped games — even today against the No. 1 team in the country, we think with the correct conditions, we win that game."
It's that level of confidence that Gidney and his incredible staff bring to the program that has meant so much in 2022.
It's a confidence that has changed the culture of the team.
The Warriors expect to win.
And they are proud to carry the target on their backs.
"We relish it, we want and need that, and to be honest, we felt that starting to come fairly early into the season, after our preseason results," Gidney said. "In the soccer community, which is very small, there was chatter."
Gidney says the target just gets bigger from here.
"To meet that challenge, we have to take the experience of this year and not be so eager and excitable," he said. "Going to Nationals and winning the conference title should be a one off moment in time. It should become routine.
"We have to create a new normal in the standards and expectations we set within our group."
Gidney says the Warriors will re-stock in the offseason.
Considering how much influence this year's newcomers had on the team dynamic, it will be exciting to see how Gidney and his staff continue to develop the program with future talent.
The sky is the limit.
Now that they are back in California, with a little time to relax and look back on everything they were able to accomplish, the Warriors are rightfully satisfied with a season that far surpassed expectations.
"To win the Cal Pac trophy, something physical, is nice," Gidney said. "It's a validation for everything we do and say. It turns it all from just words into something tangible to look back on and say, 'Yes. We did that.'
"For me personally, I have worked at a couple of different schools, but this is my first year as a head coach. A position that a lot of this team stuck their necks out to put me into.
"I said when I got it that I could never repay them, but I hope that this year I have at least started that process. I am incredibly humbled and proud of them for what they have done for me, my staff, and one another."
