As spring headed into summer, Ana Paula Santos faced a major crossroads in her life.
Should I stay or should I go?
Santos, a senior midfielder for the William Carey University women’s soccer team, had to decide whether to accept an extra year of eligibility because of COVID-19, and return to the Lady Crusaders for one final season, or move on to the next phase in her life.
The Lady Crusaders had just suffered a crushing 2-1 overtime defeat to Keiser (Fla.) University in the championship game of the NAIA National Tournament, after coming into the tournament undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the country.
“That was one of the most stressful months of my life,” said Santos. “I didn’t know exactly what to do. I didn’t know if I should pursue a professional career or play one more year here. There were people say that if I stayed another year, I’d be too old, that I’d be playing at the same level while other players are getting ahead. There were a lot of opinions.
“But when I looked at my team, I felt that these players would push me forward. I’ve been getting better every day for five years at this school, and I decided that I would stay and play for another ring.”
That unfinished business was one of the factors that persuaded Santos to return to Carey and lead her team to what it hopes is another national title, to go with the one WCU won in 2018.
Santos, a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Veronica Herrera, from Caracas, Venezuela by way of Iowa Western Community College, have helped get Carey back to the top of the NAIA rankings.
The 18-0 Lady Crusaders open their bid for another national championship at 6 p.m. Thursday against Louisiana Christian in the opening round of the NAIA National Tournament at Crusader Field. Carey is the top-seeded team in the tournament.
Also in the four-team Hattiesburg Bracket are Missouri Valley College and Reinhardt (Ga.) University. Those two teams square off at 3 p.m. Thursday. The first-round winners meet at 2 p.m. Saturday for the chance to advance to the national tournament at Orange Beach, Ala.
Owens, now in his 17th season son as head coach of the Lady Crusaders, knew after the 2020 season – which was played in the spring of 2021 – that he would have another national championship contender, with or without Santos.
“This year’s team is special, just the experience, everybody returning from last year,” said Owens. “Last year’s team was also very experienced, with a lot of seniors, and they had a very good season right to the end, when we didn’t finish the way we wanted.
“To be able to get that team back and to know what’s in store and what’s needed has been huge. From a coaching standpoint, we haven’t had to do a whole lot. From a mentality standpoint, we can just talk to the girls, that they know what’s coming and how to deal with it.”
Although Carey had the bulk of its team back from last season, Owens has added some new pieces, notably freshman midfielder Mariangela Jimenez, who has scored 16 goals.
“To have these super seniors, and then to add some other pieces to make us stronger, has separated this team from some others that we’ve had,” Owens said.
But getting Santos back was the cherry on top for the Lady Crusaders. In her previous four seasons, she scored 61 goals and recorded 32 assists in 81 games, earning NAIA Player of the Year honors last season.
This season, Santos has 21 goals and 11 assists, both team highs, including four game-winning scores, giving her 21 game-winners for her career.
“It’s the point of the game to score, and that’s what brings joy to everyone,” said Santos. “But when you see a team coming together as a team and not just a bunch of random players running around wearing the same shirt, it’s gratifying.
“When you see someone tell you, ‘I’m here for you, and, not literally, but if I have to break my leg for you, then I will.’ I think that’s what brings me the most joy, when you look at the sideline and you see your family and know you’re going to run your heart out for them.”
Santos was Southern States Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year in 2017, SSAC Player of the Year and NAIA All-America the past three seasons and was tournament Most Valuable Player for Carey’s championship team in 2018.
“Just being part of the Carey family,” said Owens. “She just really enjoys playing the game. Being from Brazil, they grow up with the ball at their feet.
“AP never takes a play off. You never see her walking. What makes her tick is just her love of the game, love of the program. The goal is to win every game, and she takes that to heart to make sure she does everything she can to win every game.”
Santos’ path to William Carey was long, but relatively straightforward. Coming from a working-class area in Sao Paulo, the largest city in her native country, Santos came to the attention of American educators who came to Brazil to offer playing opportunities for young people.
“The USA government had a program in Brazil to offer girls in some low-money communities a chance to play soccer and learn English, to allow them to have a better life in the near future,” said Santos.
“I was one of the ones selected to be a part of this program. The program lasted a year, and when it was done, they chose seven of the 30 to keep studying English, and I was one of them. A year later, we were down to three, so they offered me a chance to come to a university in America, and they would cover everything as far as money. I sent e-mails to a bunch of schools, and Carey was the one that caught most of my attention, because of the coaching staff. I felt a kind of connection here. Five years later, I’m still here.”
Once she got to Carey, she met Larissa Caldas, a fellow Brazilian who played for the Lady Crusaders and is now a graduate assistant coach.
“It’s easy to talk about AP, because we are really, really close since she got here,” said Caldas, who hails from Belo Horizonte, on the northeast coast of Brazil.
“I think she’s a really good player, and it was fun to play with her; now I’m coaching her, so I can say that I see both sides now.”
For Caldas, making the adjustment from player to coach has been smooth, with her playing experience giving her the ability to see the game from a player’s perspective while also offering a new way to look at the game from the sidelines.
“It’s a lot different,” said Caldas. “When I was a player, I didn’t see things like I see right now. When you’re a player, you just want to play, you want to be on the field, you want to run. But now, on the coaching side, I can see all the reasons why the coach makes the choices that he does.”
A big part of Santos’ success and that of her team has been her connection with Herrera, a defender who was a first-team NAIA All-America and Defensive Player of the Year in the SSAC last season.
“She’s got a lot of speed and she has great touch,” said Herrera. “For me as a defensive player, she makes me get better every day we play together. It challenges me to be a better player, to run faster.”
That symbiotic relationship between Santos and Herrera, and with the rest of the team, came in handy in Carey’s most recent game, a 4-3 double-overtime win over Middle Georgia State in the championship game of the SSAC Tournament at Montgomery, Ala.
“We’ve got to give credit to Middle Georgia,” Herrera said. “They were up for it, and they played a really good game. They played as a team, and they fought every single play. They never stopped.
“We came from a semifinal where we beat Mobile 9-0, then we came to this game, and it was really tight.”
It was the first game all season in which the Lady Crusaders were threatened with defeat.
“I don’t think it was a wake-up call, because I thought we played really well, especially in the first half when we had some chances to put the game away early,” said Owens.
“So I don’t think it was a wake-up call as much as it was a reminder that, hey, this is what it’s like; this is the level we need to be at. That was a national tournament semifinal-level game, so I think it was a reminder that this is the level and pace we need to be at if we’re going to win.”
Santos said that once she’s finished with her college career she’d like to play professionally in Europe.
“My dream is to play professional soccer in America,” Santos said. “But I have the idea that I might not be ready at this stage. I may want to play around for four or five years, then maybe I’ll be more mature in the professional field and actually stand out.”
This is the 13th appearance in the NAIA National Tournament for William Carey. If the Lady Crusaders advance out of their bracket this week, they will open play in the national tournament in the quarterfinal round on Dec. 2 at the Orange Beach Sportsplex.
“I think it goes back to this team returning so many players,” Owens said. “We’ve experienced this over the past three years. When you win a national championship, you get everybody’s best shot. When you continue that success, you get that.
“I think the girls know what’s coming; we know we’re going to get everybody’s best game, and we know we have to play to the best of our ability in order to win.”
This would make the ninth consecutive season that Carey has made it to Orange Beach, if the next two games go as expected, and the Lady Crusaders have reached the national semifinals the past four seasons, with two appearances in the finals.
“We felt like Keiser took something that belonged to us,” said Herrera. “So, of course, there is the motivation to make it back there and this time get things done.”
