Long road back/ Big win has CC eying return to elite status

After eight straight NCAA playoff berths from 1984-91 - including losses in the title game to North Carolina in '86 and '89 - the Colorado College women's soccer team has been a collective postseason missing person.

Which begs the question that has haunted the program for nearly a decade.

What recruiting coup or act of the soccer gods will it take to end the current 9-year skid and restore CC's spot among the nation's elite?

Third-year coach Greg Ryan says look no further than Sunday's 2- 1 home win over midwest power Wisconsin for the answer.

"This is what we haven't been capable of doing in the past," Ryan said. "Usually, these are the kind of games where we'd lose by one goal.

"But now, we've got the talent, and more importantly, the kind of players that compete with a lot of heart and intensity. That's something we've lacked in the past."

Following Saturday's 3-1 loss to No. 19-ranked William & Mary in their season opener, the Tigers relied heavily on their guile to knock off Wisconsin (1-1).

Junior Cortney Kitchen erased a lackluster start by CC with a right-footed goal in the 28th minute. Her low shot from outside the penalty area scooted through a maze of players and beat Wisconsin goalkeeper Kelly Conway at the near post, giving CC a 1-0 lead.

"We knew the start was going to be tough with our legs after playing (Saturday)," senior defender Jayme O'Bryan said. "But we also knew against a team like Wisconsin we had to pick it up."

Wisconsin fought back to tie the match on a goal by Wynter Pero in the 55th minute. The Badgers forward settled the ball off a rebounded shot and scored over the shoulder of CC goalkeeper Meghann Loseke.

Rather than hang their heads and flash back to the William & Mary match, in which they blew a 1-0 second-half lead, the Tigers, armed with their newfound intensity, seized back the momentum.

CC's Ashley Magnuson beat a pair of defenders on the dribble and sent a cross from the right wing to the near post, where teammate Ashley Hooverson and the Wisconsin goalkeeper collided battling for the ball. The pass, though, went untouched to Molly Shea, who scored into an empty goal for the game-winner.

"I didn't have time to really think," Shea said. "It was a great cross and a good combination from the corner. I did the easy part because all I had to do was touch it in."

After splitting against a pair of NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, the schedule doesn't get any easier for CC, which plays as an independent. This coming weekend, the Tigers travel east to take on New Hampshire and Harvard, another foe coming off an NCAA spot last season.

But Ryan and his players look forward to the early tests.

"We've upped our schedule this year," said Ryan, who is 22-17-2 at CC after stints at Southern Methodist and Wisconsin. "We have five NCAA teams on the schedule this year. We're through two of them and we're .500.

"If you win the games you're supposed to win and go .500 or better against the tournament teams, you're going to get in."

O'Bryan said nevermind Ryan's mathematical NCAA-bid formula, CC is already playing like a nationally ranked program.

"To tell you the truth, I think we're already there," she said. "We just played two top-25 teams (Wisconsin just missed a national ranking this week) and we're better. I think today showed we're going to be there at the end.

"In my past four years, this is by far the strongest we've come out. We were just a bit unlucky (vs. William & Mary). But today, we beat an NCAA team that we lost to last year in overtime.

"Everyone's attitude is right where it needs to be."

Coincidently, it was a Ryan-coached Wisconsin team that defeated CC 1-0 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in '91, the Tigers' last trip to the postseason.

Since then, CC has been through three coaches (including Ryan) and steadily slipped from its once-proud national presence.

Last season's 13 wins were the most in nine years. From 1985-91, the Tigers never won fewer than 14 games.

And while its recent hover around .500 isn't anything to turn up your nose at, remember, CC was one of the founding programs of women's college soccer, even hosting the inaugural national tournament in 1980.

That said, at least among women's soccer followers, the Tigers' slow slide from prominence had been conspicuous.

The players, including Shea who transferred from the University of Maine before last season, are confident CC's long crawl back is finally at an end.

"Greg believes in us," Shea said. "And more important, we believe in ourselves. We have the skill to go to the tournament. It's just a matter of putting it together mentally. I think we're finally there."

- Tim Spencer may be reached at 636-0250 or tspencer@gazette.com.

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