Belief Gives Way To Knowing
Rams take approach their run has just begun
Mike Brohard
The unknown can haunt a person. Even a team.
Mia Massey was pretty sure the image was not going to leave her mind anytime soon. The sophomore midfielder was in the perfect spot to put her extra work into practice, nailing a header directly to the net.
Only a Utah State defender – not the goalie – happened to be in the way, keeping Saturday’s Mountain West Championship scoreless for the time being.
“It hurts. If that went in, it could have changed the whole dynamic of the game,” Massey mused. “You never know.”
On that topic, the Rams, who eventually dropped a 1-0 decision, will never have an answer. But they do have another which is very valuable to the squad. Now they know.
They can win in the tournament, which they’d never done before in two prior trips. They can reach the championship match, which they’d never done. Better yet, while the dejection of the moment was still settling in like lactic acid, the Rams were already looking ahead.
To next season. To another run. And hopefully, a step beyond.
Now they know. Which is nice, because when the season began, they believed they could.
Knowing is empowering.
“I think so. I think we know right when we start again, even in the spring, this is what we’re going to be working toward,” said Kenady Leighton, who already announced she’ll return for a super-senior season. “This is a standard for us now. It’s not, oh, let’s just make the tournament, it’s let’s make it to the finals and we’re winning it this year.”
For coach Keeley Hagen, this was her third season of building a program which has existed a decade. It had never had a permanent home, but now it does. More importantly, it has developed a culture of work and grit.
The Rams matched the program record with 12 victories. Olivia Fout broke the record for goals in a season (12), paving the way for the team mark to fall (32). The 10 shutouts were the most in a campaign. Most of the players who produced those figures will still be around.
Hagen only loses two starters. Each year she’s been the coach, she’s started with a team which lost it’s leading goal scorer from the year before. Not only is Fout returning, but so do six of the top seven goal scorers and four of the five players who had multiple assists.
It’s not exactly starting from scratch, but the Rams will.
“Every year is a new year. I think for me, you don’t start where you finished,” Hagen said. “You go back to OK, let’s re-lay the foundation again. That’s kind of my attitude the past is in the past. Just because you had a good last year doesn’t mean you’re going to have a good this year. We’re going to start with the basics, and the players who are going to make an impact are going to rise to the top and we’re going to keep challenging them to be better.
“I’m very much a look-in-the-windshield, not-the-rearview-mirror type of coach. You have to earn every single goal, every single play. It’s a team effort.”
Just because you know it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. You have to have people who are going to believe, even through the highs and the lows, they can still get thereKeeley Hagen
The approach led to the run the Rams made in the tournament, even over the season. It’s the way Hagen started to build the program, and one of her captains would be shocked if things changed from one title-game appearance.
What they’ve done led them to the point of dejection. To Leighton, the same approach can help them experience elation.
“I think we get new talent every year. We just keep building and building every year,” she said. “I’m testament to that being here since Keeley’s first year. It’s been really awesome seeing the growth from my sophomore year. Every year we’ve gotten farther and farther, and I think it’s super special. It’s a testament to our coaches and we believe in what they do.”
The truth is, all of them feel there has to be a blend of belief and knowing for the task to be completed. What they did this year started with a foundation they believed it was possible, the end result also taught them some lessons which only come with doing something new.
Emotionally, there were tears. There was a deep pain and anguish for those who will not be with them to forge forward. There was also a bit of determination.
“I think that’s really powerful. I think we needed this moment, even though it sucks,” Massey said. “Nobody wants to be in this moment. We needed it to get some type of experience in this tournament and we’re going to have this in the back of our heads going into next season.
“I’m really excited for this team moving forward, and we probably have some great players coming in, too, who are going to help us out.”
Hagen likes the fact her team now knows. It will help when they regather in the spring to start workouts. It will help through the winter workouts in the weight room. It should help in recruiting.
But knowing isn’t enough. When they come back together again, they’ll still have to believe in themselves and their teammates.
“Belief is everything. I think from our staff all the way to our freshmen who came with us and didn’t play, that’s going to be the thing that’s going to drive us,” Hagen said. “You hope they remember this feeling so when we come back to say listen, we graduate two big pieces and people are going to have to step up. I’m really proud of the seniors who laid the foundation.
“Every season you have a breakthrough. Just because you know it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. You have to have people who are going to believe, even through the highs and the lows, they can still get there. To have a taste of it, that’s the part where we’re definitely going to lean into that. It’s certainly, for me, it’s belief, you have to grind, you have to work hard and have that attitude. Now that we have a taste of it, it’s like, OK, we want to go get it.”
Leighton said they all had the feeling this was a special group which was assembled for the season. It was a team which rode waves. There were players who continued to work and carry a bigger load at the end than in the beginning.
Most of them left the field feeling they had not been at their best in the championship game, which was part of the unsettled feeling. It’s another factor to consider. They’ll carry the notion with them until they start the process for next season, once again from the basics.
“We’re going to rebuild. I think we have a great foundation, but we’re just building from that,” Leighton said. “I think this game wasn’t our game. We didn’t play our best, and that’s going to happen some games. We’re just going to keep working toward having every game be the best game in the tournament next year.”
She believes the Rams can do that. In fact, she knows they can.