By Mike Hogan, Managing Editor
Growing up, Kacie Filian would kick soccer balls into a regulation-sized net on the side of her home outside of Chicago, Illinois, dreaming of moments where she would be the hero.
After willing the Bonnies to a 2-1 victory over Merrimack Sunday, where she scored two second-half goals, one being her first-career goal and the latter being the game-winning goal, Filian felt numb, buzzing with excitement. Even if she still can’t believe it, her once backyard dream became a division-one sized reality.
Steve Brdarski, head coach of St. Bonaventure’s women’s soccer team, wasn’t shocked. Knowing Filian is a true student of the game, he expected this.
“Kacie is a soccer nerd,” Brdarski said. “When we recruited her, the one thing we loved about her was how much she loved the game. She eats, sleeps and breathes soccer.”
However, after an exciting high school and club career, where Fillian once led the mid-suburban league in goals and overall points, picked up enough all-state and all-area honors to fill a whole page and helped her club team go undefeated in back-to-back seasons, she had to battle back. Patience has been a virtue for the sophomore midfielder, who tore her ACL a season ago.
“She wasn’t able to contribute her first year,” said Brdarski. “But she came back this year a better version of herself. She’s worked her butt off for the last 12 months. She’s never complained about anything. Kacie did everything that she possibly could to get back. Instead of letting her injury paralyze her, she did the opposite. She started jumping over buildings and putting balls in the back of the net.”
Brdarksi continued, “She also passes off credit to her teammates. She understands how much it means to be apart of a team, a family. This is her soccer family.”
And Brdarski was right. Filian said it was the teams leadership that helped her stay patient through adversity.
“I think it starts with the leadership on the team,” Filian said. “Everyone has a role, and you have to embrace it. Everyone wants to play, but if you play selfish, you’re never going to win. Everyone brings something to the team, and if your name gets called and you make an impact, that’s all the matters. Not the minutes, but the result.”
She said, “Playing at a high club level helped prepare me for this, too. We played against a lot of Division I players. My high school team also played pretty good teams. We weren’t always the best, so I am used to having to scrap and claw for everything. A lot of grit to win games.”
While Filian has become a better version of herself this season, the team has emulated that, starting 4-4. Going 2-13-4 without a non-conference win a season ago, Brdarski and Filian talked about the team’s positive start.
“It’s all culture change,” Filian said. “It’s our senior leadership. They brought in a culture where everyone fights for every ball, every practice and every game. We always talk about how one play can make or break a game. It’s been awesome winning games, and it’s made both practices and games more fun.”
“Every year, it’s a different team,” Brdarski said. “We only get three months together. This year’s team has the same fighting spirit that last year’s team had. This team makes bigger plays, that has a cohesive chemistry. They want it for each other.”
For a few more days, Filian will have time to replay her storybook day before heading to the Bronx, New York, to take on the Fordham Rams on Sept. 22. But moments like Sunday stick with an athlete. After all, only 7 percent of high-school athletes get the chance to do what Filian did: live out a lifelong dream at the collegiate level.
“This is the stuff you dream of as a kid, shooting your shots, hoping you’ll get the chance to make an impact for your team like this,” Filian said. “I am lucky they went in.”
Brdarski said, “She’s been incredible.”
hoganm17@bonaventure.edu
