No conference wins aren’t a good sign for retaining a roster in today’s college sports.
Oklahoma State didn’t win a conference game last season, going 0-10-1. It was one of the worst seasons that Cowgirl soccer has had. After that, head coach Colin Carmicheal spent the offseason rebuilding the roster after losing several players to the transfer portal or graduation.
The new roster that he built clicked almost instantly, as a group of players that got along and wanted to win. The returning players accepted the transfers, and everyone’s goal was to get the program back to its historical standard.
“We added a lot of these new freshmen and transfers in January, and the feedback I got from the new players was that everyone was so welcoming,” Carmichael said. “They felt at home quickly, so I think it’s a real credit to our returning group. They did a really good job of welcoming the new players. It wasn’t threatening. It wasn’t, ‘Oh my gosh, they’re coming in to take my spot.’ It was very much like, ‘We want you to come here and help us build this thing back up.’”
It wasn’t just the coaching staff that noticed how the team has come together; the players have noticed it too, both returners and newcomers alike. OSU defender Katelyn Hoppers has seen the team come together as a unit on and off the field.
“Being a returner, getting to know a lot of new faces this year has been so much fun,” Hoppers said. “I think that off the field we’re just as good friends as we are on the field. We’ve had a lot of fun travel trips. Again, we also have all of preseason. We’d wake up, we’d go to practice, and then we’d have all day to just play mahjong, play Fortnite.
“We get together, we do all this random stuff, and I really do think it helps on the field because I’m gonna play hard for Avery [Bass] because you know she’s a good friend and vice versa.”
The team has done different things to build up off-the-field chemistry during the short time that they have been on the same roster. Different groups of players play mahjong, Fortnite or hang out at cookouts together. Forward Sonora DeFini doesn’t play mahjong, but seeing her teammates play, she still sees its importance.
“We [Defini and Emmy Hedden] were just talking about how neither of us knows how to play mahjong, so we were just enjoying watching him trying to figure it out,” Defini said. “But I just think it shows that there’s no one on this team that someone doesn’t like, and that’s really awesome. Like we all get along, and that’s really cool to see. I think a lot of programs, they do have some conflict, which doesn’t help sometimes. So I think it’s really cool that we all really like each other.”
The team hasn’t been all bright spots this season. Carmichael called the team out after a 4-1 loss to Mississippi State, where Laudan Wilson was kicked multiple times, and the team didn’t respond. No single voice dominated that meeting; multiple players spoke up about how they could be better.
“It wasn’t just one or two people that were like, ‘This is my fault,’ or something happened,” Wilson said. “I think there were a lot of different voices, which I think shows that we’re getting a lot of different leaders on the team, which is so important. But yeah, it wasn’t just one or two people. I would say it was multiple people saying, ‘Hey, I can do better at this,’ or ‘Hey, this can change, and we need to work together.’ So yeah, it was really cool.”
The team has used those moments to grow closer, and no cliques have formed. The off-the-field bonding has been throughout the team, led by different players.
“I know during preseason, Logan Marks cooked a big pasta dinner, a lasagna dinner for everybody, which was amazing,” Carmichael said. “Dustin [Stein] had a big cookout at his house. We went to the Hub, and I know they hang out. Like some of them went to the football game and stuff. So it’s been neat to see them bonding.
“And I think every team [has] certain groups of kids that hang out a little bit more, but I don’t see cliques. Like I do see different groups hanging out, speaking to each other, and that’s always a nice thing because it’s not always like that on a team.”
On the team’s one road trip so far this season, they had a five-hour delay in Starkville, Mississippi, and the team tried to teach Carmicheal how to play mahjong. He couldn’t fully grasp mahjong, but the attempt showed the team’s trust in him.
“Bella, you know I was partnered with her in the game, and she’s like teaching me, and I couldn’t understand it,” Carmichael said. “She’s looking at me like I have two heads. She’s like, ‘What are you doing, man?’ And so, yeah, it’s really nice. This group is very, very fun and they seem to like us. I certainly love being around them, and kind of looking forward to this next road trip.
“Maybe I can actually play the game again and learn how to play it. I mean, as I said, it’s just who I am as a person; you can give me grief, and I’ll laugh. I won’t get upset with you, and then I’ll give you a little bit of grief, and we’ll hug it out, stuff like that. That’s just the way it’s always been with us. And this group really enjoys that. As they give me so much grief, and I just laugh.”
The layover wasn’t just for mahjong; it was also a time for the team to come together and hang out. Cowgirl goalie Avery Bass found the trip to Starkville to be a good bonding point.
“I think coming in the spring, I felt welcome immediately,” Bass said. “I don’t think this is a hard team to come into. I think the trips definitely helped. Starkville was a good bonding point for us, and I think just the way the coaches help us compete in practice, it’s like we know that we want to work hard for each other.”
The team’s bonding has also extended online; a group of players plays Fortnite together. It hasn’t just been a way for the team to unwind; it’s also helped them grow closer.
“First of all, Fortnite, you’re a team,” Hoppers said. “You’re literally playing to the death, and I kind of just remind them that, like, every game, let’s just play together, and we lose together, just like we lose in Fortnite together, and we win together, you know. And I think that we joke around, but ultimately, like, it has made me closer with my roommates because I know they’re going to go into battle for me, and I know they’re going to go into battle for me in the game.”
Even in Fortnite, the team avoids cliques and tries to include as many people as they can.
“I can’t play video games to save my life, but mahjong is fun together,” Bass said. “I wasn’t super savvy with it coming in, but I also think that, as small as it is, they take the time to teach each of us, like they just have the patience, and they want everybody to be included. But yeah, I think aspect of a team, it gives us a place to be a team and have fun and compete, but like outside of soccer. So it’s just another thing that brings us together.”
The bonding the team has done makes them closer and makes them want to play harder for the people they’re playing next to.
“I think that all this off-season bonding has just really helped us know how much we care about each other, and how I’m gonna work my butt off for someone, and they’re gonna work their butt off for me, and also like it all comes from love,” Hoppers said.