Kapaa High School alumna Brianna Binder accomplished a lot in her high school soccer career.
She is a four-time Kauai Interscholastic Federation girls soccer all-star and a two-time Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II All-Tournament Team selection.
Now, she can add one more item on her list of accomplishments — national championship.
“It’s honestly unreal. It’s crazy,” Binder said in a phone interview Friday.
Binder, a freshman at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., won an NCAA Division III women’s soccer national championship.
Williams defeated Middlebury College, of Middlebury, Vt., in the championship game last Saturday in Greensboro, N.C. The Williams Ephs won in a penalty shootout, 3-2.
It is Williams’ second consecutive national title and its third in the last three years.
Binder said the team had a pretty tough season, though, and some members felt they were “lucky” to have reached the final four.
“But as we were there, we had this realization that we’re good enough to be there and we’re good enough to win a national title again,” she said. “I feel like the thought process, it really did change. From expecting it, to not expecting it, to expecting it again.”
The former Warrior added she got a “decent amount” of playing time at the final four.
“I am a harsh critic of myself, so I feel that I could have done better with this and that,” Binder said. “I feel like I gave my team all that I can being in the position they through me in.”
In her freshman year, Binder played in 23 games and scored one goal.
“I think it was an incredible first season to be a part of,” she said. “Winning a national title is definitely setting the bar high, but getting to know the seniors and getting to play with them for the last time, it was truly incredible. Getting to play with everyone was amazing.”
Cows on a plane
A rather odd but humorous tradition for the Williams College women’s soccer is that if the team reached the Division III Final Four, the team travels to the site dressed as cows.
The school’s mascot is a purple cow.
“We get cow onesies. Every time they get to the final four, they call it, “Cows on a plane,’” Binder said. “All of us had to wear the cow onesies on the plane, and we get all these kinds of questions. All these people take pictures of us. I think we had a story on ESPNU. I think also CBS said something about it. It’s a cool tradition, I think.”
Information from Williams College Athletics.
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Nick Celario, sports writer, can be reached at 245-0437 or ncelario@thegardenisland.com.
