Georgia Soccer Is Now ‘Wide Awake’
December 15, 2022 | Soccer, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Keidane McAlpine heard it over and over again after taking over the program a year ago. A lot of us have said it or thought it plenty over the past 20 years: Georgia soccer is a sleeping giant.
"Too many times. Too many times," he said recently, a couple of weeks after wrapping up his first season — a hugely successful one that ended in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
"For me, no, we're not sleeping. We're wide awake [laughs]. We're here, we're doing it, we're living it," he said.
With all of the resources of UGA, both athletically and academically, and all of the talented players that the state and region produce every year, if the right coach and staff came along, they could turn the Bulldogs into a perennial power. That was always the belief, the assumption, from the outside looking in at a program that had some success here and there but never a sustained run of excellence.
McAlpine was hired last December to change that.
"I think for so many people, they see potential, and potential is a dangerous word oftentimes," McAlpine said last week. "But I think by having my staff with me, and knowing what it was to come in and do it (rebuild a program), we were able to immediately hit some things right away. 'We know if we do these things, we're going to see a turn.'
"We felt really good about doing a few things and seeing a return right away."
McAlpine arrived at Georgia with a career record of 182-89-37, including a stellar eight seasons at Southern California that was highlighted by the 2016 national championship. Before that, he oversaw a turnaround at Washington State, and before that, sandwiching a stint as an assistant at Auburn, he coached his alma mater, Birmingham-Southern, as it transitioned to Division I.
The man knows how to build and rebuild. He also knows his staff very well, having been on the training ground and sideline with associate head coach Jason Lockhart and assistant Sammy Towne for years. Lockhart and McAlpine have worked together for more than a decade now, while Towne was with them for four seasons at USC after playing at Auburn when McAlpine was on the Tigers' staff.
They not only hit the ground running when they got to Athens, they knew which direction they wanted to go when they hit the ground. They had to evaluate the players, get them playing where and how the coaches wanted, and then get them to believe.
Before this season, Georgia hadn't played in the NCAA tournament since 2014, and hadn't won a game in the tournament since 2011. The Bulldogs also hadn't reached the semifinals of the SEC tournament since 2010. With McAlpine and his staff leading the way, and with the players buying in and believing, Georgia achieved a lot of firsts, or firsts in quite a long time, this season.
Georgia finished 13-6-3 and qualified for the SEC tournament, where the Bulldogs upset No. 21 Tennessee, 2-0, to reach the semifinals and effectively clinch a spot in the NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs not only got in, as a No. 7 seed they hosted Samford in the first round, posting a 2-0 victory in the program's first home NCAA tournament game since 2007.
"I thought we had a good season, but where we're trying to go, it's not where we want to be," he said. "But, I'm very proud of this season because it's very clear, you can look at the 'first in a long time' or the 'first time ever' achievements and say, Wow, this was a really great season, and I'm very, very happy for these women that for so long have been trying to get this season, to get to the NCAAs.
"Now they leave the legacy of, we were the group that shifted it. We were the group that turned it. I'm very happy for them and I'm very happy for them to have that as an experience to carry forward."
The players were believing, the fans were believing, and McAlpine's colleagues in coaching were taking note of the turnaround that was happening.
"I think, having been in this situation before, you always have an expectation that you can do it. But doing it is still a grind and taxing and all of the things that go with it," he said. "I think probably the thing that makes it hit home is my colleagues' response, people looking at you and going, 'Wow, you guys did that in Year 1?'
"What was their expectation of Georgia to begin with if they're that excited about what we did? To see that turn, that's what excites me. You didn't have an expectation of us, so you didn't expect us to do what we did, even though we as a staff came in knowing and feeling like it could be done."
It took work, it took belief, it took the help of a valuable trio of fifth-year Bulldogs — Abby Boyan, Dani Murguia and Cecily Stoute — to lead the way by words and actions. Murguia led Georgia with eight goals, Boyan was second with six assists, and Stoute, as ever, was the rock for the Bulldogs' back line. Boyan was named the United Soccer Coaches All-America third team as well as first team All-SEC, while Murguia, Stoute and Madison Haugen (team-high seven assists) joined her in making a United Soccer Coaches All-Region team.
"Like most seniors, there's an urgency to what they do," he said. "I think that part we'll be able to replicate to some degree because we'll have new seniors. The part that we can't replicate is the determination from the frustration of the past not being quite what they wanted. Trying to keep that hunger in the program is really something that's going to be the challenge. You hope to only have one group that has that kind of hunger."
Off the field, McAlpine said, the seniors were excellent teammates and leaders.
"They trained, they put in time, and each of them brought a little something different to the group — they were kind, they made sure people were taken care of. They all brought a little something that I think hopefully they passed into the next group," he said.
While no player should carry the weight of what happens in a program before they arrive, that doesn't mean they don't feel it. Now, after what happened in 2022, the returning Bulldogs' burden has been lifted.
"I think you're going to see the ripples for years. We're definitely going to feel it within the team and I think you saw that in the (NCAA) first round and in the SEC tournament. I think they played with that freedom. They were still a little nervous in the game, but ultimately, they went after it," McAlpine said. "There was a belief that started to turn. And as you start to shift a program, you have to have that moment when that unknown turns into a little nervousness, turns into belief. And I think we finally got to that relief space. It took a while; there was that up and down — are we really this good? We've won a lot of games but we won a lot of games last year, but we still didn't close well. Can we close well?
"All of those questions were sitting out there, and then that Tennessee (SEC tournament) first-round game gave them that lift, unburdened them, and I think moving forward, you'll see it in recruiting, you'll see it in the team, you'll see it in the fan base."
The sleeping giant may not yet actually be a giant, but it's awake. And it's hungry.
Staff Writer
Keidane McAlpine heard it over and over again after taking over the program a year ago. A lot of us have said it or thought it plenty over the past 20 years: Georgia soccer is a sleeping giant.
"Too many times. Too many times," he said recently, a couple of weeks after wrapping up his first season — a hugely successful one that ended in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
"For me, no, we're not sleeping. We're wide awake [laughs]. We're here, we're doing it, we're living it," he said.
With all of the resources of UGA, both athletically and academically, and all of the talented players that the state and region produce every year, if the right coach and staff came along, they could turn the Bulldogs into a perennial power. That was always the belief, the assumption, from the outside looking in at a program that had some success here and there but never a sustained run of excellence.
McAlpine was hired last December to change that.
"I think for so many people, they see potential, and potential is a dangerous word oftentimes," McAlpine said last week. "But I think by having my staff with me, and knowing what it was to come in and do it (rebuild a program), we were able to immediately hit some things right away. 'We know if we do these things, we're going to see a turn.'
"We felt really good about doing a few things and seeing a return right away."
McAlpine arrived at Georgia with a career record of 182-89-37, including a stellar eight seasons at Southern California that was highlighted by the 2016 national championship. Before that, he oversaw a turnaround at Washington State, and before that, sandwiching a stint as an assistant at Auburn, he coached his alma mater, Birmingham-Southern, as it transitioned to Division I.
The man knows how to build and rebuild. He also knows his staff very well, having been on the training ground and sideline with associate head coach Jason Lockhart and assistant Sammy Towne for years. Lockhart and McAlpine have worked together for more than a decade now, while Towne was with them for four seasons at USC after playing at Auburn when McAlpine was on the Tigers' staff.
They not only hit the ground running when they got to Athens, they knew which direction they wanted to go when they hit the ground. They had to evaluate the players, get them playing where and how the coaches wanted, and then get them to believe.
Before this season, Georgia hadn't played in the NCAA tournament since 2014, and hadn't won a game in the tournament since 2011. The Bulldogs also hadn't reached the semifinals of the SEC tournament since 2010. With McAlpine and his staff leading the way, and with the players buying in and believing, Georgia achieved a lot of firsts, or firsts in quite a long time, this season.
Georgia finished 13-6-3 and qualified for the SEC tournament, where the Bulldogs upset No. 21 Tennessee, 2-0, to reach the semifinals and effectively clinch a spot in the NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs not only got in, as a No. 7 seed they hosted Samford in the first round, posting a 2-0 victory in the program's first home NCAA tournament game since 2007.
"I thought we had a good season, but where we're trying to go, it's not where we want to be," he said. "But, I'm very proud of this season because it's very clear, you can look at the 'first in a long time' or the 'first time ever' achievements and say, Wow, this was a really great season, and I'm very, very happy for these women that for so long have been trying to get this season, to get to the NCAAs.
"Now they leave the legacy of, we were the group that shifted it. We were the group that turned it. I'm very happy for them and I'm very happy for them to have that as an experience to carry forward."
The players were believing, the fans were believing, and McAlpine's colleagues in coaching were taking note of the turnaround that was happening.
"I think, having been in this situation before, you always have an expectation that you can do it. But doing it is still a grind and taxing and all of the things that go with it," he said. "I think probably the thing that makes it hit home is my colleagues' response, people looking at you and going, 'Wow, you guys did that in Year 1?'
"What was their expectation of Georgia to begin with if they're that excited about what we did? To see that turn, that's what excites me. You didn't have an expectation of us, so you didn't expect us to do what we did, even though we as a staff came in knowing and feeling like it could be done."
It took work, it took belief, it took the help of a valuable trio of fifth-year Bulldogs — Abby Boyan, Dani Murguia and Cecily Stoute — to lead the way by words and actions. Murguia led Georgia with eight goals, Boyan was second with six assists, and Stoute, as ever, was the rock for the Bulldogs' back line. Boyan was named the United Soccer Coaches All-America third team as well as first team All-SEC, while Murguia, Stoute and Madison Haugen (team-high seven assists) joined her in making a United Soccer Coaches All-Region team.
"Like most seniors, there's an urgency to what they do," he said. "I think that part we'll be able to replicate to some degree because we'll have new seniors. The part that we can't replicate is the determination from the frustration of the past not being quite what they wanted. Trying to keep that hunger in the program is really something that's going to be the challenge. You hope to only have one group that has that kind of hunger."
Off the field, McAlpine said, the seniors were excellent teammates and leaders.
"They trained, they put in time, and each of them brought a little something different to the group — they were kind, they made sure people were taken care of. They all brought a little something that I think hopefully they passed into the next group," he said.
While no player should carry the weight of what happens in a program before they arrive, that doesn't mean they don't feel it. Now, after what happened in 2022, the returning Bulldogs' burden has been lifted.
"I think you're going to see the ripples for years. We're definitely going to feel it within the team and I think you saw that in the (NCAA) first round and in the SEC tournament. I think they played with that freedom. They were still a little nervous in the game, but ultimately, they went after it," McAlpine said. "There was a belief that started to turn. And as you start to shift a program, you have to have that moment when that unknown turns into a little nervousness, turns into belief. And I think we finally got to that relief space. It took a while; there was that up and down — are we really this good? We've won a lot of games but we won a lot of games last year, but we still didn't close well. Can we close well?
"All of those questions were sitting out there, and then that Tennessee (SEC tournament) first-round game gave them that lift, unburdened them, and I think moving forward, you'll see it in recruiting, you'll see it in the team, you'll see it in the fan base."
The sleeping giant may not yet actually be a giant, but it's awake. And it's hungry.
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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