Mastodon WSOC's Journey to League Semifinal Began Long Before 2022
11/2/2022 8:49:00 AM | Women's Soccer
On September 18, 2022, Purdue Fort Wayne women's soccer head coach Jason Burr realized there was something special about his team.
It was the Horizon League opener, the league that the Mastodons have called home for the last three seasons. The 'Dons were pitted against in-state rival IUPUI on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon.
It was not a smooth first 45 minutes. IUPUI was up 2-0 heading into the locker room after two goals in the last five minutes of the first half.
Purdue Fort Wayne got a penalty kick goal from Zoe Greenhalge in minute 60. Halfway to a tie, but a lot of work to do. Several unsuccessful chances later, the Mastodons looked as though they were going to leave their fans at the Hefner Soccer Complex disappointed.
With 10 seconds left, Purdue Fort Wayne keeper Samantha Castaneda picked up a slow roller at her feet and threw her entire body into a punt to Morgan Reitano. Reitano found Gigi Ricciardi, who sent a pass to Rylee Vruggink. The sophomore forward was able to sneak past the charging IUPUI keeper and score with just two seconds left to salvage the tie.
That was the start of something new.
"Coaches always talk about playing all 90 minutes," Burr said. "We always write it on the board before every game, but this season has taken it to a whole new level."
This was obvious by this point in the season. Just two games prior, the Mastodons had internally adopted a "Cardiac Kid" mantra for another buzzer-beating victory.
Purdue Fort Wayne was up 1-nil on the Valparaiso Beacons' home field, who went on to win the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title.
But a called foul in the box with no time left on the clock could have spoiled everything. Valparaiso had a penalty kick to escape with a tie, but Castaneda put her name on the national stage by making a diving save to her right to give Purdue Fort Wayne the walk-off win.
Things were different.
"You're going to have to see us out for all 90 minutes," Castaneda said. "You're going to have to wait until the final whistle blows."
Castaneda was showered with accolades after her performance at Valparaiso, including being named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week.
And yet, Castaneda never took the credit.
"She got three weeks of recognition with Defensive Player of the Week for the Horizon League and every time she's recognized she's on social media and in the locker room talking about how she would never be able to be honored by the league without the 25 other women in the locker room," Burr said. "She is the first one in the locker room to lead that charge and say she knows she wouldn't be able to do it without everyone else."
The awards continued to come in the postseason, when Castaneda was named the Horizon League Goalkeeper of the Year. A reasonable choice, as she was in the top 10 in the nation in save percentage. She broke nearly every record in Mastodon history to boot.
But those awards did not come immediately. Of course, there was a lot of work behind the scenes.
Castaneda did not play goalkeeper until her senior year of high school at Homestead. The Fort Wayne native had played as a defender until that point. She picked up goalkeeper quickly, and got the chance to play at the collegiate level at Indiana Wesleyan. After a successful 19-3-2 season with the Wildcats in the NAIA, she decided to try and make the jump to Division I.
She transferred to Purdue Fort Wayne for academics, but decided to call Burr and set up an opportunity to try out for the team. She came to the next practice, donning her Indiana Wesleyan red shorts, a fact that is still poked fun at to this day.
"I just played," Castaneda said. "I did what I have done most of my life and just played soccer."
Just playing was enough to catch the attention of the coaching staff.
"I knew she could be a program-changer for us," Burr said. "I didn't know at that time that she was going to be one of the best goalkeepers in this region and that's absolutely what she's turned into."
Over the next three years, Castaneda helped transform a program that was on the rise into one competing for championships.
"I definitely saw potential," Castaneda said. "There were some things that needed to be refined, so I took it upon myself to refine those things even if I didn't have the credibility on the field. I knew that I could play and I hoped that I could rally the troops behind me."
The transformation of the program is clearer to few than Gabrielle Fanning. The six-year player for the Mastodons played through one of the worst seasons in program history in her freshman year and now is experiencing the best.
Fanning and the Mastodons went 1-17 in 2017. A season easy to forget for those that wanted to, but it's been in her mind ever since.
With the NCAA's blanket COVID-19 waiver to allow players to return for an extra season, Fanning was able to break the program's appearance and start records on the way. She saw first-hand the changes happening in the program.
"I believed in this program," Fanning said. "I saw it slowly grow from that 2017 season and we never got credit. I saw that we were going to this year. I knew we would. I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to be a part of being the team that people are scared to play, the team that no one wants to pick for their senior day."
She made her return in part for herself, but also to make a statement for her predecessors.
"We see what we're capable of and it's exciting to finally get credit for it," Fanning said. "I think about all my former teammates and all the credit they deserved and they never did. I feel like we're making up for that."
The 23-year-old center back was figuratively front and center when the postseason awards came out. She earned All-Horizon League First Team honors, and Burr doesn't claim that as his own personal victory.
"The fact that our players are starting to finally be recognized and feel the affirmation that their efforts have really turned things around and made this a successful place, that doesn't fall to the coaching staff," Burr said. "It falls to the women on the field battling in training every day and raising not only their own level but the level of those around them as well."
Having a strong coaching staff helps of course. When Burr was officially named the Horizon League Coach of the Year, the team was about to start a lifting session. The players huddled together and read the All-League awards together and waited for their head coach to join them in the weight room. When Burr walked in, the team burst into applause and chanted his name.
With a huge smile on his face, Burr was quick to put his proudest moment back onto his players. He said nothing but, "good job guys, this is all you."
Burr has been the head coach of the Mastodons for nine seasons, and this is first with this kind of success. And yet, the players notice how optimistic Burr was even when things looked the most dark.
"He's been the biggest believer for this team, even from the beginning," Fanning said. "It's hard to have that confidence that things will work out and will get better. Having someone believe in the program so much, it makes it easy to follow that. That is so important to have that core person that believes in us even when we didn't believe in ourselves."
Under Burr's leadership, the Mastodons finished the regular season with a number of program-bests, but none better than their record. Purdue Fort Wayne was 9-3-6 and 5-1-4 in the Horizon League. This included an unbeaten 6-0-3 at home.
Now that the regular season is done, attention turns to the Horizon League Championship. Purdue Fort Wayne is the No. 2 seed and will face No. 5 Youngstown State in the semifinal round. A win over the Penguins would give the Mastodons their second trip to a league championship match with a chance for their first-ever league title.
The Mastodons are thinking one game at a time, but the opportunity that is in front of them looms large. A Horizon League Championship and an NCAA Tournament berth is on the line, potentially just 180 minutes away.
"We don't deserve anything," senior defender Isabelle Wissel said. "We're going to have to go out and earn it. Obviously the competitiveness on this team is rising. We have bigger expectations now."
Those expectations are to win. Pure and simple.
"We're going to get the job done," Wissel said. "We don't care how it happens. What our opponent does doesn't matter, we're determined to find a way to win no matter what."
A championship would mean everything to this program from its coaches to its players, and beyond.
"For me, it's just the reward of seeing our players being able to have this experience and for our alumni to see this come to fruition," Burr said. "It's truly a huge family that we have really tried to keep connected. For us to be able to achieve that would be momentous and a massive opportunity.
"Beyond just that, it's the culmination of hundreds of players, thousands of hours of commitment and work that they have poured into this program. It would mean the world to me to know that everyone that has been a part of this program gets to experience."
This has been a long time coming.
"For the players, it's been on their minds," Burr said. "Every player that we've recruited, that was a conversation they had in our office, trying to build something. Players have bought into something they knew they could create as long as they stay unified and try to compete to go in same direction."
It would be impossible to not think about the opportunity ahead. The senior leadership on the team is doing everything it can to set the tone.
"It's a seed that we're all going to plant in our heads," Fanning said. "It's possible and the 'Dons are finally a team that is no longer 'maybe … hopefully.' It's turned into 'it's going to happen, just a matter of when.' We've proven that we can get results against the best, so let's do it when it counts."
The march to the Horizon League Championship begins for the Mastodons on Thursday, November 5 at 5 p.m. ET in Milwaukee. A win over Youngstown State will put the 'Dons in the championship match with either Milwaukee or IUPUI.
~ Feel the Rumble ~
