STARKVILLE — Tanya de Souza feels good.
Whether it was waiting through initial NCAA eligibility verification to wading through an adjustment to the English language to an injury that took away the thing she loved, de Souza would rather forget the 2014 season.
A year after a series of ups and downs prevented de Souza from finding her comfort level, the sophomore goalkeeper from Paris, France, finally can settle in and realize her dream and play soccer in the United States for the Mississippi State women’s soccer team.
“I just want to be there for my team, and I want them to know I am back there and I will do the best for the team,” de Souza said. “I just want to be one of the leaders of the team.”
This season, De Souza will be in the mix to earn playing time at goalkeeper with sophomore Rhylee DeCrane and freshman Courtney Tompkins at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12, when MSU plays Tennessee-Martin in the first of two exhibition matches. MSU will play host to Memphis at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 15, at the MSU Soccer Field. It will play host to South Alabama at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 21, in its season opener.
MSU women’s soccer coach Aaron Gordon said recruiting de Souza was “pure luck.” He said the team was recruiting another player when he was asked if he would be interested in an “outstanding goalkeeper.” Gordon said the team had a need last season because DeCrane was the only goalkeeper on the roster. Gordon knew de Souza had international experience with France’s Under-16 team, had been selected to the country’s U-19 team, and had received invitations to France’s U-20 squad. He also knew de Souza had experience with Juvisy, a team in France’s D1 league, the country’s top league. Gordon said he then watched video of de Souza to make sure he felt she would be a good fit.
Gordon said MSU then had to verify de Souza’s academic records and wait for the NCAA to declare her eligible before she could take the field.
De Souza appeared in eight games (six starts) last season and made 31 saves. Although she didn’t win a match (0-5), she split time with DeCrane in six games and showed the potential Gordon saw on video.
“She is as quick as any goalkeeper I have seen,” Gordon said. “The only goalkeeper I have seen with that type of quickness is Briana Scurry, who won the World Cup (with the United States) in 1999. Briana Scurry is the most athletic goalkeeper the United States has ever had then and today.”
Gordon also coached Scurry with the Women’s United Soccer Association’s Atlanta Beat. WUSA was a professional soccer league before the current National Women’s Soccer League.
Gordon believes de Souza will be more comfortable now that she has been at MSU for a year and she can speak English better. Last season, he acknowledged both factors made things tough for de Souza to adjust.
De Souza said being healthy also will make things easier this season. She admitted she considered leaving MSU because she thought the injury had dashed her hopes of realizing her dreams to play soccer in the U.S.
“The first six months were crazy for me because all of the paper work I was just waiting at home,” de Souza said. “The more I was waiting, well, maybe, I don’t want to go anymore because it took so long and I didn’t know if it was going to be real or not.
“When I came here, I thought my English was good, but it was not, so I had to learn English, and that was really difficult. Then I had my injury (severe ankle sprain), and that was really difficult because I (thought) I didn’t have anything to do here anymore.”
Gordon also is excited to have a healthy de Souza in the mix. With three goalkeepers, Gordon feels the Bulldogs will have plenty of competition to keep all of the players fresh. He also believes de Souza feels more confident in being able to speak English, which he knows will make it easier for her to communicate with her defenders.
“The circumstances are way different. That’s why we’re so excited about the potential of this year,” Gordon said. “I don’t throw out (the comparison to Scurry easily). Bri had lots of international caps and lots of experience. Tanya doesn’t have it, but when Bri was 21 she wasn’t the No. 1 goalkeeper in the United States. She was still honing her craft. I can only imagine at this same age, the same time frame, they were very similar. I know I can say this, Tanya is way better with her feet and way better in terms of playing (and communicating) with the back line, which is much more important in the modern game than it was in the 90s.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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