Pride Surprises Even Themselves with Second State Championship in a Row

After winning the NCHSAA State Women's Soccer Championship in 2008,  neither Leesville Road head soccer coach Paul Dinkenor nor his Leesville Pride team thought that had a snowball's chance in July to take the crown again.
"At the beginning of the season, I really didn't think we'd even come close to winning the championship again," said Sarah Floyd, sophomore starting midfielder.
The team had lost some of its best senior players to graduation last year and didn't know what to expect.
"After the first couple of games, we realized we were still good, but we didn't think we'd even make it to the finals," Floyd said. "We just took the season one game at a time."
Correction:  The Pride women took it one win at a time to emerge undefeated at the end of regular season action with 22 wins and three tied scores.
"We returned nine starters from last year's championship team and 16 letter-winners" Head Coach Paul Dinkenor said. "This was our first undefeated season; last year, we finished 24-2."
To spectators, the girls made their string of victories look easy, but Dinkenor says the season was anything but easy.
"We had some close calls, but the girls always seemed to find a way to get it done," he said.
As the Pride labored through the regular season, they always felt they were playing on the edge.
"Through the season, we had no idea we would win," said Rachel Hunter, a sophomore starter who also plays midfield. "We did not even concentrate on the state championships, we always just focused on conference play."
For Hunter, the turning point in the season came at spring break, after the Pride had played everyone in the Cap 7 conference and were undefeated.
The turning point for Dinkenor was later.
"We turned the corner at the end of the regular season," he said. "We were beginning the conference tournament with lots of injuries, and we weren't playing well."
Even though the team had finished first in regular season play, they went limping into the conference tournament, and Dinkenor made a radical strategic decision.
"Basically, I  made the decision to let everyone on the team play in the conference tournament and see what happened," he said.
It was brilliant.
"It worked. The kids who came off the bench and played, really lifted everyone's spirits," he said.
The conference tournament, played in Wake Forest was grueling.
"We had to make the long trip to Wake Forest to play.  The days were hot. It also rained," Dinkenor said. "We got our first win on a penalty shoot-out and we won the second game with just 4.1 seconds on the clock."
The combination of great play from the bench, and the team's ability to hang tough was the morale booster the Pride needed going into the State Championships.
"If you win a small tournament in a big fashion, it gives you the boost you need for the big show," Dinkenor said. "Once we got going in the state tournament, it got easier."
Back-to-back state champions may be a point of pride for the Pride, but Dinkenor finds great satisfaction in other team achievements.
"Our team has an average GPA of 4.03.  We have 21 girls on the team. They are good students, leaders in the school and they are well behaved," he said.
And thanks to their athleticism on the field and their winning ways, they are nationally ranked.
"The ESPN poll has us ranked Number 3 in their Fab 50 poll," he said.
In the last three years, the Pride has won 67 games, lost six and tied in seven.
"Coach Dink is great. He makes sure our whole team works together and plays for each other," Floyd said.
Hunter is also enthusiastic about her coach.
"He is very inspirational and knows soccer," she said. "I have learned alot both on and off the field."
So what's next for the girls and their coach?
Floyd and Hunter are playing soccer in the Capital Area Soccer League and looking forward to enjoying their summer.
Dinkenor admits he's tired of soccer and is looking forward to taking a break, refreshing himself and spending time with his wife and kids.  He understands his team loves to play but hopes they will take a break too.
Hunter is planning to spend some time at the beach, but will she kick a soccer ball while she's enjoying the sun, surf and sand?
"Oh, for sure," she said.