Seattle native Jocelyn Charette played one season at the University of Tampa, a season so prolific that she ranks second on the school’s individual season records list with 51 points her freshman year. The year after she transferred home to play at Seattle Pacific University, she watched as her former team won their school’s first national championship in the sport.
Sunday, she will return to the stadium where her collegiate career started and try to win a national championship with her new team.
‘ ‘It feels great,’ Charette said of returning to Tampa. ‘I really love this atmosphere and it feels like I’m back at my second home.’
Charette left Tampa after her record-setting freshman season, and watched her friends and teammates win a national championship the next season without her.
‘It was really disheartening knowing that y’all won the year after I left, and I was so sad when my team lost (in the Final Four), but in the long run I was so happy for you guys,’ she said. ‘I would never want another team to beat y’all.’
The Falcons beat Metro State University 3-1 last night in must-win match against the 2006 National Champions, and Charette had a goal and an assist in the stadium where she starred her freshman year.
‘There’s something about Tampa’s stadium that’s weird,’ she said. ‘I’ve always felt so confident playing in it.’ I was just really calm playing against them (Metro State) even thought it was the Final Four. Also, it was a great feeling to score because I haven’t been scoring that much here (at SPU).’
The Falcons will play the University of West Florida Argonauts in the championship game Saturday at 3:30 p.m., with both teams fighting for their school’s first National Championship in the sport.
Charette said this was her team’s best chance of winning a national championship in her SPU career.
‘Your’ (Tampa’s) team last year is my team this’ year,’ she said.
Although Charette only played as a Spartan her freshman year (2006), she tallied more points than most people do in their careers, with 21 goals and 9 assists.
Tampa’s 2006 team was knocked out in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament, a disappointing end to a season that produced more goals than any other team in UT history.
‘I didn’t really consider myself to be a big impact on our team my freshman year,’ Charette said. ‘But I was really homesick, and knowing that I was doing well kept my hopes high. The soccer team was my outlet.’
She has 9 goals and 14 assists so far this season and is only expecting to add to those numbers on Saturday.
‘It would feel amazing to score in the national championship game, to end my season with a goal in the biggest game of the year,’ Charette said. ‘But more importantly I just want us to win. It would suck to score but still lose.’
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