In any sports team, there’s always a player who stands out among his or her teammates, a player that carries the team on his or her shoulders and that every coach wishes he could clone. For Scott Dameron, Bakersfield College’s soccer coach, that wish came true when the Soelberg twins, Terryn and Torree, arrived to play for the Renegades.
In 2008, they didn’t see much action due to both suffering knee injuries, but for the 2009 season, they returned to the field to help the Renegades to the playoffs.
Terryn finished as BC’s top scorer with 17 goals and five assists during the regular season. She never felt pressured knowing that her team relied on her to score the goals.
?”I love that part about my position, that’s my role on the team and I enjoy the reward I get from my hard work,” said Terryn, who lived an emotional moment during the last regular-season game against Canyons.
On that game, BC needed a victory to win a place in the playoffs. The Renegades were losing 1-0 and Terryn had the chance to tie the game with a penalty kick, but she missed the big opportunity.
“I was really upset that I had missed that penalty kick because I had been making them all season long, and it was a real confidence blow when I wasn’t able to tie it up for my team,” she said.
Terryn said that during halftime, her teammates and coach were supporting her, and that really helped her. She had another chance in the second half, and this time she put it in, sealing the Renegades’ victory 2-1. “I was just excited that we won, and that I was able to redeem myself,” Terryn said.
Precisely on that goal, she was assisted by her twin sister, Torree, in a goal that made clear the understanding on the field between these two.
“We definitely work well together. Playing together all these years, I know her runs and where she is going to be, so it gives us an advantage,” said Torree, who started this season playing as a centre back, a new position for her.
“I played forward and midfield, but it wasn’t till this year that I played defense,” said Torree.
Due to the lack of a centre back that could lead the defense, Dameron put Torree in to play defense, and she demonstrated that she could succeed in that position.
“At first I wasn’t too excited about it, but now I have embraced it and have really come to enjoy playing defense,” said Torree, who scored one goal and had two assists during the season and led the Renegades’ defense that allowed only 25 goals in 21 games, including a five-game streak in which BC allowed no goals.
The Soelberg twins, 19, both liberal studies majors, grew up playing soccer since they were 5 years old. They loved watching the U.S. Women’s National Team, and their favorite players were Shannon MacMillan and Mia Hamm.
The Soelberg sisters are still undecided where they will continue their education, but they know one thing for sure; they will continue playing the game and will return to play next season for BC.
“We want to continue playing and if an opportunity comes along to play at a higher level, we will take it,” the sisters said.