With just under 20 minutes left to play in the 2015 Women’s College Cup, Mallory Weber received the ball on the sideline and heard a very familiar sound.
“I heard Rocky screaming in the middle,” Weber said after the game. “And when Rocky wants the ball, you try and find a way to do it.”
That’s the reputation that Raquel “Rocky” Rodriguez has earned in her time at Penn State, and she lived up to it one last time in the College Cup Final. Weber found a pass to Rocky, who slotted it home to score the only goal of the game and give Penn State its first national championship in program history. Rocky was the hero, and there are few people who deserved it more.
"She inspires me," Penn State coach Erica Walsh said of Rocky. "Inspires me to do things, inspires all of us to do things that maybe we're a little bit scared to do. [Rodriguez] packed her bags and moved to another country, moved to a small town, didn't know where she was going or what she was doing. But something inside of her told her it was the right thing, and I thank God that she did because she's been a blessing in all of our lives."
Rodriguez came to Penn State from Costa Rica back in 2011. It was a decision that at the time was adventurous at best, and down right terrifying at worst. But, it has paid off in full. This past year has been the year of Rocky: she scored Costa Rica’s first ever Women’s World Cup goal over the summer, led her team to a 22-3-2 record, and was named the most outstanding offensive player at the 2015 Women’s College Cup. But as deserving of praise as Rodriguez is, we must not forget about the other 21 young women who took the field for the final.
This was a defensive battle, and both sides deserve immense credit for their ability to tactically shut down each other. Especially Duke, who time and time again suffocated any meaningful space out of the game.
Penn State’s Walsh was impressed by Duke on the offensive end as well: “I thought Imani Dorsey was a little bit terrifying today, to be honest. Every time she got on the ball she was dangerous. They have so many dynamic attacking pieces. You certainly catch yourself holding your breath.” But for all of Duke’s threatening, they were unable to break through Penn State’s own stout defense: a common theme among the teams that faced the Nittany Lions. Walsh’s Penn State did not let in a single goal throughout the entire 2015 NCAA tournament.
Duke, however, will not be discouraged by their failure to win college soccer’s biggest prize.
“The groundwork is there for us to make a return, and so our challenge is we move forward,” said Duke head coach Robbie Church. “Our challenge is to continue to strive to get to the College Cup. This is a very self-motivated team. I know when the hurt wears off and we get back at it, it’s going to be a very hungry team to get back to this and to continue to play at an elite level.”
For one team, the months until next year’s College Cup will drag on an on, and for the other the celebrating has probably already started. It’s just too bad that if a sequel to this year’s final does indeed take place next year, there won’t be a Rocky to steal the show.
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