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Roadrunners win national title
'Runners see double with 2 overtime wins en route to second division championship
By Jeremy Johnson
jjohn308@mscd.edu

Photo by Victor O'Brien courtesy of The Minaret Kylee Hanavan and teammates celebrate after winning Metro's second national championship Nov. 18 in Pensacola, Fla. The title was the second for Hanavan and four other Metro players.

Aside from her neon shoes and neon-tipped hair, there was nothing particularly flashy about Kira Sharp this season. That is, until she helped the No. 12-ranked Metro women’s soccer team clinch the NCAA Division II national championship

During the Nov. 16 semifinal game against No. 2-ranked West Chester in Pensacola, Fla., Sharp buried a double-overtime, game-winning goal.
She followed suit in the championship game two days later.

Three minutes into overtime, No. 8-ranked Grand Valley State was whistled for a penalty. Sharp bent a free kick from 23 yards away over Grand Valley State’s defensive wall and into the back left corner of the net to give the ’Runners their second national championship in three years.

“(Coach Sanchez) moved me to the outside (forward) for the Final Four, and I just made it work,” Sharp said. “Throughout the year I dreamed that this would happen, and all the seniors thought the same. Eventually, we were able to make that happen.”

The championship was a fitting end of an era as nine seniors competed in their final collegiate game.

“I think it’s extra special for the seniors,” head coach Danny Sanchez said. “For them to go out as national champions is a great testament to them and what they brought to the program.”

The Roadrunners’ first national title came in 2004, when they defeated Adelphi 3-2. Forwards Kylee Hanavan and Katie Kilbey, defensive backs Shelley Radosevich and Brooke Kiefer and goalkeeper Sarah Leonhard were all part of the 2004 championship.

Metro narrowly missed a title last season, when they lost a shootout to Seattle Pacific in a tie game that eliminated them from the tournament.

“I mean, it’s always bad going to the Elite Eight and losing like we did,” Hanavan said. “But it’s awesome to win this one like we did, and a great way to go out.”

Metro lost only one game over the two previous seasons, but the ’Runners were presented with more of a challenge this season. Not only did they lose an upset match against Texas A&M Commerce Oct. 1, but the ’Runners were eliminated from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference on Oct. 28 by Fort Lewis. The Skyhawks handed Metro their first home loss since 2002 and took the conference title from the ’Runners for the first time in five years.

“I don’t think we overachieved, but we definitely played up to our potential, and that’s a great feeling as a coach,” Sanchez said.

But Metro bounced back with strong conditioning, senior experience and rock-solid defense and goalkeeping to help them defeat a Grand Valley State team that had the leading scorer in Division II, Katy Tafler (32 goals, 3.55 ppg), and top goalkeeper, Kristina Nasturzio (seven goals against).

Metro goalkeeper Rachel Zollner, named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American first team along with Keifer, had four saves in the championship match as the Lakers outshot the ’Runners by a 13-12 margin.

“I don’t think we played to our potential, and I think we took a difficult road to get (to the championship),” Zollner said. “But we did what we had to do in the end.”

The overtime win was the fifth of the season for Metro and the second straight in their championship run. The ’Runners were down 1-0 to West Chester in the semifinal game but came back in the 75th minute when Kilbey took a Sharp pass and snuck it by Rams goalkeeper Hilary Smart to tie the game.

According to Sharp, she is the first women’s soccer player to score back-to-back game-winning goals to win a championship. She remained humble about her accomplishment, though.

“Everyone on our team worked together so well all year, and I credit the team for being there as a whole team the entire season,” Sharp said.

Sharp also said that teammate Jamie Stephenson, whose season came to an early end when she tore her ACL and MCL in the Sweet 16 against St. Edward’s, was an inspiration to her and the entire Metro team. The entire Metro team scrawled Stephenson’s name on their arms as a tribute, beginning with their Elite Eight win over UC-San Diego on through the championship.

“Jamie was a great player and an asset to this team,” Sharp said. “So we really wanted to win this for her.”