The chill in the air. The buzz as spectators poured into their seats. The roar of the crowd. The anticipation. The sights and sounds of Championship Field on November 22, 2015.
Just two short months earlier, the Seattle University men’s soccer team had pulled off the crosstown upset years in the making, defeating Washington, 2-1, and starting the upward journey for the Redhawks, who would be ranked for the remainder of the season.
Now on that cold November night, the Redhawks had earned not only a first round bye but the right to host a Second Round game, the first ever NCAA Division I postseason game for any sport held on SU’s campus. And they welcomed another Pac-12 powerhouse in UCLA.
Freshman Nathan Aune remembers, “I’ve never played in a sporting event like that. When UCLA walks out, you have that feeling inside like ‘This game is going to be awesome’. Even before the game, I was getting texts from people trying to get tickets; to have the issue of not being able to have enough space for everyone to get in is pretty awesome.”
“Same with me,” Hamza Haddadi looks back. “People would come up to me after and say ‘I was standing behind the goal right there. I saw you score.”
Senior Michael Roberts remembers being asked about tickets and wished good luck by people he didn’t even know on and around campus.
“Before the game, there was definitely a lot of hype and people were excited,” Kyle Bjornethun adds. “It was huge because everyone knew we played and even if they weren’t there, they would ask about it.”
Two years ago, the team earned their first DI postseason win, a victory in snowy Omaha at Creighton, but the magnitude of this game at home made it so much more gratifying for the players.
“Creighton seemed more impossible than this game,” said graduating senior goalkeeper Shane Haworth. “Going into it, you have to have a positive mentality but we went into that one like ‘This is going to be hard’. For me, going into the UCLA game, it was a much bigger deal because it sent us to the Sweet 16, but I felt a lot more like it was possible.”
Chalk the increase in confidence up to the successes the program has enjoyed over the past three years.
But it hasn’t come easy.
After advancing to the program’s first DI tournament in 2013, the Redhawks appeared poised for a repeat in 2014, hosting the WAC tournament, but ultimately fell short. Even before that, the team won three games during Haworth’s first season and started the season in 2013 with a 0-6-1 record.
“It was such a huge bummer because we weren’t even thinking as much about the WAC tournament, we were looking forward to how we would do in the NCAA tournament,” Haworth said.
Bjornethun agrees, “It was unsettling. We had the WAC tournament at home, which was huge, and we thought it would’ve happened differently.”
“With such a good season two years ago and then not fulfilling our potential last year, there was a bittersweet taste in our mouths,” Roberts adds. “From the beginning of the season, we knew we were going to work and go as far as we possibly could. We didn’t know where that would be, but we knew if we worked together, we could accomplish something amazing.”
The disappointment propelled them into this season and continues to push them forward.
“We knew what we were capable of and we didn’t fulfill our capabilities last year,” said Haddadi. “So this year, we were completely focused from the start of preseason and in the offseason.”
Haworth recognizes how far the program has come during his career, “When I first got here, it was very polarized in that seniors didn’t talk to freshmen.” He laughs, looking at Aune, the lone freshman in the room, “We all still think freshmen are weird but we still talk to them.”
He continues, “It’s huge for teams to play for each other and the culture this year was the best I’ve ever seen it. Everyone bought into the mentality and bonded over the fact that we didn’t want it to be the same as last year and that’s what made it so fun.”
In order to get to this game, the Redhawks battled against a tough Utah Valley team in the WAC tournament finale and their not-so-secret weapon returned to do what he does – score goals.
Just over a month earlier, Haddadi had just entered the game vs. Air Force when the unthinkable happened.
“I came in to defend a corner, we clear it, and I run down the field and get tackled from behind. I just feel a pop in my ankle and know it isn’t good, but I wasn’t going to sub out because I just came in,” a resilient Haddadi remembers.
“I was able to score a goal after that and look down and my ankle is so big and I think ‘This is not looking good’. Coach subs me out and after x-rays the next day, it’s not good. But I didn’t want it to end there, so I had to have faith in myself and all the guys did too and I kept working hard.”
Haworth adds, “Hamza was having such a good year so after that, coach said ‘We need to win for our team but we also need to win for Hamza’. It was amazing how quickly our mentality shifted. At first, we’re like ‘That’s it, he’s done’ and we were ready to fill that role for him. Then he said ‘I’m going back’ and we’re suddenly like ‘Ok, you’re doing it, you’re coming back and we’ll be here for you.”
Haddadi ultimately missed nine games, returning for the conference championship versus the Wolverines. He scored Seattle U’s goal in a 1-1 draw and kicked the final penalty kick to send the Redhawks back to the NCAA tournament.
Just a week later, he would do it again. A slow roller into the net vs. UCLA, which would prove to be the game-winner. For Haddadi, it’s all a blur.
“I didn’t even realize it was going in,” he recollects. “I just stuck my foot out there and saw the ball rolling in and I don’t remember anything after that. It was amazing. There were just so many people and I ran as fast as I could to the corner to celebrate with the crowd. It was probably the most excited I’ve ever been after scoring a goal.”
A moment that almost didn’t happen had Haddadi given up and succumbed to his injury.
Following the game, the players continued to feel the community support as they prepared for the Sweet 16 at Syracuse.
“For me, it was a sense of pride and comradery,” said Haworth. “People would come up to you and I would say ‘We won that for you, we won it for this school’. They felt a part of the team and that was really cool.”
The graduating class hopes the returners will continue the legacy and not be satisfied with the past.
“I thought when I was finished, I would secretly say ‘I don’t want them to do better than us’ but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I’m super excited for them.”
“To be a part of this team was an amazing opportunity and a wonderful experience,” Roberts agrees. “I’m so happy to have helped the team through its most successful DI era to date, but I know this is only the beginning and I will be cheering them on next year to push towards the national title.”
Haddadi adds, “It’s good to start off getting this far and set a standard for the future. It’s a good starting point but definitely not something they should be satisfied with.”
The returners show no signs of complacency as Aune says “I’m pretty confident our team thinks last year was great but we’ve moved on from last year and we’re ready to do new things. We got a taste of it, now we have more drive than ever before because we got a little bit of the feeling.”
If the past is any indication, the future is looking just as bright for the Redhawks.