By Harry Minium
Coach Angie Hind's slide presentation to her Old Dominion women's soccer team came 90 minutes before the Monarchs' first NCAA Tournament game in 15 years.
It took the Monarchs from start to finish of a memorable 2021 season, beginning with a 6 a.m. workout on August 1, all the way to team's Conference USA Tournament championship two weekends ago. Each slide ended with, "But we know we can do more."
The last slide had a photo of the Monarchs hoisting the Conference USA championship trophy and the read, "We just won a championship . . . but . . . we know we can do more."
The message was clear. When you think you've pushed yourself to the limit, that you've made all the progress you can make, there's always one more step you can take.
ODU came so tantalizing close to making one more giant step Friday night. The Monarchs were sent to play Duke, one of four No.1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, in the Blue Devils' home stadium.
And for almost 90 minutes, the Monarchs played Duke on even terms. With 17 seconds left in a scoreless game, the Monarchs were called for a foul, their 16th of the game.
Had Caitlin Cosme's free kick not been true, the game would have gone into overtime and who knows who might have won?
With 20 more minutes of scoreless soccer in overtime, it would have come down to penalty kicks. And I would put ODU goalkeeper Kasey Perry up against anyone.
Alas, Cosme hit the ball almost perfectly, notching it into the upper right-hand corner of the net and Duke escaped with a 1-0 victory.
Playing Duke on its home field was a tough draw for ODU. As is often the case when a Group of 5 school squares off with a Power 5 school, the home team got the benefit of the doubt when the refs blew their whistles.
The game wasn't particularly physical and yet ODU was called for 16 fouls and had two yellow cards. Duke had just six fouls.
Some of the fouls left me scratching my bald head. Danae Harper, the talented freshman from Grafton, Massachusetts, drew two fouls in 34 minutes and she was just playing good soccer.
The last ODU foul, the one that set up the game winner, was a marginal call. Probably, technically a foul, but not one that I would have called, especially since it essentially decided the game.
In spite of the foul disparity, Duke was clearly the better team. The Blue Devils were more talented and faster and they missed a ton of shots that could have gone into the net.
Yet soccer can be a funny game. You can make up for talent by playing hard and the Monarchs played their hearts out. The only numbers that count were on the scoreboard and ODU was mere seconds away from taking Duke into OT.
Regardless, I don't think this will be ODU's last bite at the NCAA apple.
ODU loses some very good players, including forward Morgan Hall, who had the game-winner in the C-USA championship game, and Emily Roberts, voted the league's best defensive player.
The good news is that a boatload of talent returns, including Perry, who played brilliantly against Duke. She had five saves but that understates how many goals she prevented.
"Every year the skill level, the drive, the energy on this team grows," Perry said. "It gets better every year.
"We know we can play at this level. To hang with a team like that it gives us a lot of motivation going into next season."
It took Hind eight seasons to rebuild a program that was among the worst in Division I into one that almost upset one of four best teams in the nation. And the culture of her program is a big reason why.
When you go on the road with a team, it doesn't take long to read the character of athletes.
I was allowed to eat with meals with the Monarchs and attend team meetings. And the culture of this team is awesome.
These Monarchs are humble – they carried their own equipment, including a huge container of Gatorade, on and off the bus. They are polite. You don't hear any complaing from them. They treated strangers with courtesy. They genuinely enjoy being with each other and the experience of being a college athlete.
And when Hind or associate head coach Michelle Barr spoke, they listened attentively. They broke up into groups after a late lunch to discuss strategy without the coaches.
Whatever the reason, I sometimes find that female athletes are more appreciative of the chance to compete on the college level. Perhaps it was because their mothers or grandmothers suffered from gender discrimination decades ago.
Regardless, these girls work as hard as any men's team on campus.
The 22 players, who hail from Germany, the Ukraine, Quebec, Denmark and all over the United States, from California to New Jersey to Florida, are genuinely close.
Hind and Barr worked hard to create the right culture, and that was apparent when McKinnon Pennell, the director of operations, was sent out to purchase a baked potato Thursday night during dinner.
A $12 baked potato, as it turns out.
Harper is vegan and the restaurant that delivered food to the team's hotel informed assistant coach Sam Kirschenbaum that their baked potatoes were cooked in bacon fat. They didn't bother to tell him that they hadn't sent any food for Harper.
Barr gave her a bowl of broccoli and then McKinnon was dispatched to a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse adjacent to the hotel to purchase a baked potato.
It cost $12, and was worth every penny.
"It was really good," Harper said with a smile.
Going out and purchasing that baked potato might seem like a small thing but it is a metaphor for just how much ODU's coaches really care for their players. And that's how you build a winning program, and graduate players who go on to be successful in life.
The culture Hind and Barr have built has drawn admiration from a place you might find surprising, but does not surprise me -- ODU's football coaches and players.
As the soccer team toiled against Duke, the players did not know they had 50 or so ardent fans watching in the lobby of a downtown hotel Friday night. About 2/3 of the ODU football team, coaches and staff gathered around a giant TV screen to watch and root for the ODU women.
"They had a chance to watch college football, but they were watching that game," football coach Ricky Rahne said. "They were cheering hard for their peers.
"They know how hard those young women work. I don't think all of them understand soccer. I certainly don't beyond any FIFA that I've played, but I think that they know how hard they work, all the time and effort that they put in.
"And I certainly know how much time and effort those coaches put in to take that program from where it was eight years ago and now is impressive."
Offensive tackle Nick Saldiveri said that Duke goal "made me feel sick to my stomach."
"But I was so proud of them. They worked so hard this season. We know them. We hang out with them. They just played a great game."
The ODU players and coaches left Norfolk for Durham with cards written by Rahne, each with a personal message.
"I thought it was important because I feel like the members of that team and the members of that coaching staff worked really, really hard," he said. Although his schedule is jam-packed, he said it didn't take long "because my handwriting sucks. I don't even know if they can read it."
They read and appreciated every word, Hind said on Twitter.
"Pure class. I'm so impressed by the influence (Rahne) has already had on ODU. No doubt success will come - the impact beyond the field will be even greater," she wrote.
As will the impact of what Hind and Barr have built.
Ece Turkoglu, the junior from Istanbul, Turkey who missed several games while playing for the Turkish national team, says her coaches and teammates "are my family. They take care of me."
She was emotional as she spoke, minutes after the game, but brightened up when I asked her about next season.
"We're going to lose some players but we're going to be better next year," she said. "I'm so proud of my team for what we did this year.
"Next year we're going to be stronger and better in everything."
When I asked Hind about the future, she said she just wanted to think about her team's inspired performance against Duke. Can't blame her there.
"The first thing we do as a staff is straight away ask ourselves, 'could we have done anything else?'" she said. "And I don't think we could have done anything else tactically.
"The kids could not have done anything else on the field.
"That's when you know you've given everything. There's nothing else we could have done.
"They played their hearts out. And as coaches, we're immensely proud of them."
As they should be.
Minium was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 39 years at The Virginian-Pilot, where he won 27 writing awards. He covers ODU athletics for odusports.com Follow him on Twitter @Harry_MiniumODU, Instagram @hbminium1 or email hminium@odu.edu
Minium: A $12 Baked Potato is a Metaphor for Just How Close ODU Soccer Players are to Coaches
