The UC Clermont Lady Cougars are bringing some hardware home to Batavia.
The team defeated Penn State Brandywine 2-0 on Monday, November 12 to cap off a perfect 3-0 run through the USCAA Division II tournament in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Head coach Blaine Callahan said just getting to the title game was a “surreal” feeling.
“It’s a little surreal, to be honest,” Callahan said. “Once we got there, it kind of hit me that we were 90 minutes away. It feels awesome. It’s almost like, ‘Now what?’ We accomplished what we want to accomplish. It’s a good feeling to have.”
The team fell behind in the first game of pool play 1-0, but rallied quickly for a 2-1 win over SUNY ESF.
“They got us on a counter and ended up going up one,” Callahan said. “We weren’t accustomed to being down, I was a little worried we were going to panic. We did for a few minutes, but we settled down and made a couple adjustments.”
Sara Ventura evened the game up with a goal in the 33rd minute of the first half. The game stayed tied at halftime, but Taylor Malucky put the team ahead for good less than two minutes into the second half.
One day later, the team returned to the field to take on Southern Maine Community College, a team that entered ply with 12 wins on the season. Callahan said he felt they wanted to slow the game down.
“Their gameplan was to sit in a bit,” Callahan said. “I think they were looking for a [scoreless] draw. We were constantly pressuring them, and we were able to break through on a really great run from Taylor Malucky.”
Malucky’s goal came in the 64th minute of play, and it was the only score in what became a 1-0 win for UC Clermont, sending the team to the title game. Callahan said the team knew they had to figure out a way to stop Brianna Banks, who led the USCAA with 29 goals this season.
“We came up with a gameplan to limit the amount of touches she gets on the ball,” Callahan said. “We depended on Malucky to mark her and be the anchor in our midfield defensively, and she did a fantastic job.”
Banks only got off one shot on goal in the game. Meanwhile, UC Clermont took the lead roughly 24 minutes into the contest on a goal by Taylor Greene. Kat Richey added another score in the half, and the Lady Cougars were set from there. Callahan said the team was able to get everyone on the roster in the game.
“We made a couple adjustments at halftime,” Callahan said. “We were able to freshen up people. I got everybody at least a few minutes in that national championship game, so everyone on the bench played. It was an overall program effort.”
Two players played in their final game for the team. Senior Destiny Golden and junior goalkeeper Anna Tessoff, an Amelia graduate, both went out as national champions. Golden capped off her career as a member of the all-tournament team,
Fittingly, Callahan said the entire team played their best game of the season in the last one.
“We saved our best for last,” Callahan said. “I talked about our last performance being a culmination of all the hard work we’ve put in. This was the last obstacle for us. When we started conditioning in June until that final whistle blew, I think that we had one goal in mind. We accomplished it, and I’m extremely proud of those girls for that.”
Several players were honored by the USCAA for their play during the tournament. Greene, Malucky and Sara Ventura were all named to the all-tournament team. Malucky was named the most valuable player of the tournament.
Two of those three, Malucky and Ventura, were captains on the team this year. Richey was the third, and Callahan praised all three for their leadership this season.
“I can’t say enough about the leadership on the team,” Callahan said. “Our captains were instrumental in keeping the ship afloat through some of the obstacles we’ve had. They’ve really come together as a unit, and we wouldn’t have done that without our captains.”
Greene and Angela McLaughlin were both named USCAA All-Americans, with Greene also earning player of the year honors.
“It means the world to [Greene],” Callahan said. “She was given a second chance here, and she absolutely cleaned up as far as collecting trophies this year. She was the player of the year, an All-American. She was the leading points-getter in the USCAA, she was on the all-tournament team. She’s worked extremely hard to get to where she’s at.”
Callahan said he wasn’t sure initially if Greene would even be able to compete at the level required to play for UC Clermont.
“She took two years off soccer, didn’t think she’d ever get back,” Callahan said. “I got a phone call on a whim last summer. I wasn’t optimistic about it, I kept telling her dad, ‘Hey, she hasn’t played in two years, I’m not sure she’s going to be up to this level. We decided to take a chance on her, and obviously that was a good choice.”
Callahan said the team received well-wishes from throughout the country during the tournament run.
“Since we’ve won the tournament and the days before, all the emails and social media comments and text messages from everyone around Cincinnati,” Callahan said. “FC Cincinnati players wished us luck. University of Maine Fort Kent, who we played last year, wished us luck. It seems to be coming from everywhere in the country, and it’s something we appreciate.”
Now that the tournament has ended, Callahan finally has the answer to his question of what the team will do next: prepare to defend their title.
“We have 359 days until the 2019 tournament,” Callahan said. “We’re preparing today. I got home at about 6:30, and we signed a player for 2019 at 7. That’s our plan, we’re going to regroup and rebuild.”