Big 12 champs! TCU soccer makes history with program’s first championship
The TCU women’s soccer team is the best in the Big 12.
The No. 3-ranked Horned Frogs won the regular-season championship on Friday night, prevailing with a 1-0 victory over No. 4 West Virginia at Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium in Fort Worth.
It’s a historic moment for the program. TCU, which started its women’s soccer program in 1986, had never won a conference championship until Friday night. The Frogs (8-0-1) also completed an undefeated season.
“It’s a big step for our program,” TCU coach Eric Bell said. “I’m really proud of our group. It’s been a long time coming. To be able to do it against West Virginia, which is the perennial power since we’ve been in the league, I don’t think I would’ve had it any other way.”
Bell and the players referenced the team reaching the Big 12 Championship game, but falling short, in 2016, 2017 and 2019. Those shortfalls made Friday that much more special.
“Now they can refer back to championship moments,” Bell said. “When things get a little bit tough, they know that they can basically weather the storm if there is a storm. They also can go out and play like that against anybody in the country.”
Added senior goalkeeper Emily Alvarado: “This has definitely been years in the making. It wasn’t overnight. We learned how to better manage the game. When it came down to it, we came up big.”
TCU sophomore forward Grace Collins provided the lone goal of the night in the second half, finding the back of the net in the 52nd minute. It was the fifth goal of the season by Collins.
Collins said the play unfolded similar to how she and assistant coach Ryan Higginbotham practiced it on Thursday.
“When I got through ... it was the same thing I did yesterday,” Collins said, smiling. “It was so awesome to make a goal like that.”
That was all TCU needed on a night Alvarado brought her ‘A’ game, making three saves. It marked the seventh shutout in nine games by Alvarado. By comparison, Alvarado had seven shutouts in 22 games last season.
“Emily was fantastic,” Bell said. “She played really well in goal for us.”
Unfortunately for TCU, Friday marked the end of the fall season. The NCAA canceled its fall sports championships this year with the hope of making it up in the spring, so there is no immediate reward of playing in the NCAA Tournament.
But, assuming there is a soccer championship held in the spring, TCU will be a part of it. Either way, none of that dampened the mood of the Frogs.
After all, they’re Big 12 champs.
This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 9:15 PM.
