IRVINE, Calif. --- The 2010 season flowed into September with coach Juniper's 'Eaters at 1-1-1 early on with a big result against No. 14 Cal in the mix. Next up was a road trip up to the State of Washington.
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The 'Eaters opened up the home slate for Gonzaga who was 2-1-1 to this point with the only loss coming to sixth-ranked Florida State. The Bulldogs and 'Eaters were each entering the regional top 10 rankings looking to move up, and UCI rode the wave. Two goals in a minute gave the 'Eaters a 2-1 edge in the first half, and the offense kicked it up a notch with goals from Judy Christopher, Nikki Forrest, and Lexi Kopf, who scored again in the 89th minute to complete the 6-2 rout of the hosts. The real story may have been before the game started on where the squad found their six-goal performance.
"I remember our trip to Gonzaga, we weren't given a locker room before the game," assistant coach and senior goalkeeper on the squad
Danielle de Seriere recalls. "We weren't in our normal setting, but we stuck with our normal pregame routine which included our circle dance led by Tanya Taylor. A lot of the moves probably weren't suitable for doing on the side of the soccer field and in front of our parents that traveled up to see us, but we didn't let it get to us, we were there for one thing."
de Seriere was part of the leadership group of the team always finding way to challenge and pump up the rest of the squad from gameday texts to challenging and trash-talking each other on the practice field. She remembers the next game at Eastern Washington as another pregame that will stick with her forever.
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"We all travel in our same groups in vans through the season, and our van driven by our trainer, Mike Burns, always had the best music. We got to the field and Bohemian Rhapsody was blasting, and we stayed in the van and rocked it all the way to the end, well after the rest of the team had showed up and gotten to the locker room."
Another tone-setter that led to a 3-1 drubbing of EWU and bringing the squad that much closer together as the season progressed onward to undefeated Pepperdine to end the trip.
The Anteaters dominated outshooting the Waves, 16-5, firing 11 shots on goal, but the match remained scoreless late into the match. Pepperdine's only shot on frame went in in the 71st minute on a free kick to gain the 1-0 lead, but the 'Eaters punched back before the final whistle tying things up in the 85th minute as Tanya Taylor turned Dana Sanderlin's pass on net sending the match to extra time. The match would end in a 1-1 draw made necessary by Pepperdine keeper Roxanne Barker's career high of 10 saves, and would temporarily halt UCI's short winning streak.
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The rest of September was a dream for the Anteaters starting on this date, September 12, with the 'Eaters back home to host 17th-ranked San Diego. Another match for the 'Eaters to dominate with a 10-4 shot advantage and take the victory, 1-0, on a CoCo Goodson strike in the 57th minute. It began a run of four straight shutouts the Anteaters pulled off dropping Fresno State and San Francisco on the road, and another ranked victory cutting down No. 17 Oregon State.
The 'Eaters were rolling finishing September at 8-1-2 following a 4-2 win vs. Nevada. Gritty draws at Cal and Pepperdine bringing to light the toughness and talent this Anteater team was working with. The September 12 win set off a string of 14 consecutive wins and added to an unbeaten streak of 17 games lasting into November. A lot of it stemmed from the cohesion of the unit, de Seriere noted.
"We were always focusing on what's next and going forward. The idea of having everyone on the same boat. Coach Juniper brought out a picture of a canoe and made it clear that if one person or foot was off, the canoe would tip. We took that on us to resolve things. There was no teetering, we were truly all in."
