December 30, 2014 at 1:46 p.m.
There's always Hope: Rhinelander native Lundberg played key role in Johns Hopkins Final Four run
There's always Hope: Rhinelander native Lundberg played key role in Johns Hopkins Final Four run
That's why for Rhinelander native and Hopkins defender Hope Lundberg, the team's recent postseason run to the Final Four in the Division III NCAA tournament came as no surprise. To put it simply, they're used to success.
"Coming into every season since I've been at Hopkins, we've been fully confident that we are just as good, if not better, than most teams in Division III," Lundberg said. "We aspire to win the national championship every year. There was not a time this year where we thought we outplayed by another team, ever."
Don't confuse confidence with arrogance though. The team members aren't full of themselves, it's just that they're well accustomed to putting in the necessary work.
"It's all very much A-type people, of course," Lundberg said. "Going to Hopkins, everyone has really big goals for themselves as a player, a teammate and a student. For the most part, everyone accomplishes those goals. I'd say 25 to 50 percent of my team is pre-med. The other half is international studies and engineering. One girl on my team actually invented - and made with a team (of assistants) - a wearable defibrillator. She has a job now right after college."
That's what originally drew Lundberg to Johns Hopkins. She's a behavioral biology major with dreams of one day becoming a pediatric oncologist. Ultimately, soccer is a tool to reach the professional heights she's set her sights on.
"I mainly chose Hopkins because of the academics in the first place, just because I knew it was a very high reaching school and I knew if I tried to get in without soccer, it would be very, very difficult," Lundberg said. "It was difficult with soccer too, but I knew it was the kind of school I wanted to go to because it would better prepare me for my future. I've always wanted to be a doctor, so figuring out a school was never an issue for me. I knew Johns Hopkins was one of the best schools that could prepare me for med school."
Despite the confidence of the group, there was a time where a playoff berth was in serious question. A surprising loss put them in murky waters and Lundberg said it was an unfamiliar scenario the team.
"We got upset in our conference championship," she said. "That's where you would get the bid into the national tournament. We lost in PKs and we were shocked. They got the automatic bid and we didn't. We were devastated and we were almost certain we wouldn't make the tournament because we lost to an unranked team."
Hopkins would have to be selected for an at-large bid, meaning a committee would have to identify them as deserving of a precious spot in the tournament. The loss to an unranked opponent was a giant blemish on the team's resume and there was serious doubt they'd get the nod. Nevertheless, the team gathered on campus to watch the selection show.
"My entire team was sitting in one of the dining halls at my school," Lundberg said. "Everyone was kind of silent and pale as we were watching the bid show. Not only did we get a bid, but we were hosting, and we erupted. The seniors were crying. They didn't want the season to be over. We said there was no way we were going to let this season end. We didn't even know if we were going to get in the tournament, now we have an at-large bid, so we're going to take it all the way. There's no reason we shouldn't."
The momentum from the selection show provided a much needed spark to Hopkins. Lundberg said preparation was intense and the entire group was focused. Whoever they faced in the first round was in for a heck of a fight.
"In the round of 64, we went into the game so amped and so ready," she said. "We crushed the team. The next day, we had the round of 32. We knew there was nothing to lose, but we knew we didn't want to lose. We went in and we crushed that team too. We were on a roll. We knew the next team we were playing ranked in the top 10, but we weren't worried about that. We were ranked in the top 10 all year. It wasn't until we lost to an unranked opponent and we dropped to around 15."
The team advanced to the Sweet 16 where the competition was about to get much tougher. The ladies knew they'd have to stick together if they wanted to advance. Luckily, Lundberg said focus was never an issue with this group.
"We have great chemistry," she said. "We all like each other and we all know we're in the same boat. We're all in difficult classes. No class is considered easy at Hopkins, so everyone knows the stresses we all have. We all have the common goal though and we all will do anything to help the team win, even if that means someone is going to be sitting on the bench that day. They don't mind as long as we win."
Lundberg played an important role on the team. It was her job to help anchor the defense and keep the other team off the scoreboard. That meant shutting down some of the best scorers in D-III.
"This year, I was a big closer for the team," she said. "My coach would put me in when we needed to close out a really tight game. I was also a starter, but when games got really tough and we needed to maintain a lead, I found myself playing more, because I play very defensive. I try to keep the ball out of our goal. That's my job."
No one could have predicted the impact the Rhinelander native, who played prep soccer at Shattuck-St. Mary's in Minnesota, would have though. Although her main job was to play defense, she went above and beyond in a dire situation.
"We weren't concerned about the rankings, but Carnegie Mellon was there in the Sweet 16 and I think they were ranked around eighth," Lundberg said. "We got into the game, they scored with us in the first 10 minutes and I put my head down for a second. I knew we couldn't lose the game. I had never lost in the Sweet 16 before. We weren't losing. The game kept going and we weren't scoring. We were playing great and I couldn't figure out why we weren't scoring. My coach put me in with about 20 minutes left in the game. I looked at my captain and she was about ready to start crying. I told her we weren't going to lose the game. She just looked away."
That's when Lundberg, with a little luck, gave the team hope.
"We got a corner kick in the 88th minute, and one of the girls tried to head the ball out," she said. "It went right in my chest and I brought it down and volleyed it in to tie it. We ended up winning the game with penalty kicks."
From there, Hopkins rode a wave of momentum into the Elite Eight. It was already the program's high water mark, but Lundberg said the group was hungry for more. No one was ready to pack it in for the year quite yet.
"Coming off that, we were jazzed," she said. "We had never made it past the Elite Eight, so we were ready. The other team had an own goal at the end of the first half and we knew we had to grind out the rest of the game. We didn't need to make any dumb runs to try to score. We just needed to maintain that lead and we did. We made it to the Final Four."
Hopkins wasn't able to muster the comeback magic in the Final Four. They fell behind early and couldn't score. This time, Lundberg couldn't net the equalizer. There were no hard feelings when the ride came to an end though. A Final Four berth is an immense accomplishment and the group was happy with the way it ended. They were simply outplayed.
"In the end, we were very all right with what happened," Lundberg said. "We had 80 minutes to put the ball in the net and we couldn't do it. Making it as far as we did and how happy the seniors were on my team is something I'll remember. My goal in the Sweet 16 and the way everyone appreciated it was incredible. It gave the team a lot of hope."
Don't take that as complacency. That's not in the vocabulary at Johns Hopkins. Lundberg said fresh off a Final Four appearance, she's already thinking about next season, her senior year.
"The absolute one thing I'll carry with me is how it felt when we lost," she said. "There's no better way to make you want to win more than losing. Taking that loss, I know there's no way I'm going to let my team finish next year without a national championship."
Andy Hildebrand may be reached at [email protected].
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