University of North Texas Athletics
Wednesday, October 31
Norfolk, VA
3:30 CT
University of North Texas
vs
No. 8 Rice
Defending Their Title
10/30/2018 9:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
NORFOLK, Virginia — As head coach John Hedlund sat in his office roughly an hour before a midseason practice, he heard the door in the hallway open.
He quickly turned to see who was walking by and lowered his glasses.
As soon as he saw it was Aaliyah Nolan, a huge grin came over his face. He raised his voice and before Nolan could get very far from his door on her way to the locker room he yelled out her name in a playful tone.
Nolan quickly stopped and smiled.
"How about Man U," Hedlund said laughing.
Nolan stumbling over her words, sat in a chair, slouched, her hair covering her eyes, sweatpants baggy and hanging low, finally collected her thoughts and went on a rant about her struggling soccer club.
"Come on Aaliyah," Hedlund said again in playful tone.
Like Groundhog Day, nearly every day for the past two years, this same situation, with this same two people and the same tone and lively atmosphere has been the scene inside Hedlund's office.
"The moment I saw her play I knew we had to offer her," Hedlund said of Nolan.
"I wanted to go to North Texas before I was even offered a scholarship," Nolan responded.
From her nonchalant style and joyful personality to her advanced soccer skills and deep love for the game, there's a lot about Nolan that makes her unique. But what's made her unique has also made her one of the most beloved Mean Green soccer players, both with her teammates and with the coaches.
Last Wednesday, Nolan became even more loved when she clinched the number one seed in the Conference USA Tournament for North Texas with a two-goal performance at Middle Tennessee, including the overtime game-winning goal.
Exactly a week later, Nolan and the Mean Green are in Norfolk, Virginia, preparing to defend their title as the C-USA Tournament champions with an opening round match against the eight-seed Rice Owls at 3:30 p.m. CT. The game will air live on ESPN+.
"Her skills are top-notch," Hedlund said of Nolan. "She's got a tremendous left foot and she always has the highest soccer IQ on the field."
One more thing that make Nolan unique is her nationality.
Nolan was born and raised on the 20-square-mile island of Bermuda.
She is the first and so far only international UNT soccer player. She's also only the second player ever born outside of the state of Texas.
How a Bermudan got to Denton, let alone Texas, began when she was 12.
Nolan, a gifted athlete who played other sports as well, quickly made the small island's national soccer team only a few years after she began playing. Her time with the national team allowed her to travel abroad and play against other countries, such as Jamaica whose head coach is also the head coach at Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas.
After seeing Nolan in person, Wilson offered her a spot on her college team.
"To attend a U.S. college was always a goal of mine," said the all-conference and all-academic forward. "But Texas was different. In Bermuda every one knows every one. So if you get in trouble everyone knows. At Navarro, there wasn't much to do except soccer or get in trouble," she said with a laugh.
"So I played a lot of soccer," she added.
In the spring of 2017, Nolan had offers from many division one schools but she had her eyes set on one in particular.
"I did my research and saw all the championships UNT had won," Nolan said. "I figured the coach at North Texas must be good."
Nolan got her chance that spring to showcase her skills for Hedlund when in a scrimmage against North Texas she scored a goal and had an assist against.
"She was so good up front," Hedlund said thinking back to the match. "I knew we had to have her be part of the program."
Less than two years later, Nolan has become a huge part of the Mean Green soccer family and will be missed by her underclass teammates when she leaves.
"She's everyone's best friend," said junior Madeline Guderian. "She's a joy to be around every day and it will suck when she's gone."
The team leader in goals this season, Nolan has provided North Texas with quite a bit of magic this season and hopes last Wednesday's performance wasn't the crowning moment of a season that isn't over yet.
"We still have a lot to accomplish," Nolan said. "We want to defend our conference tournament championship and we have to focus on that and play as a team."
KEYS TO DEFENDING THE TITLE
Natalie Newell, Jr., Defender
"We just need to regroup from Sunday's game and learn from our mistakes and fix those on Wednesday but not dwell on the loss. we also need to stay positive and be confident and remember what we're capable of and play our style and how we know how to play. also, we need to have that drive to win that we usually always have and not settle for just the regular season title but for the conference tournament title as well so we can go on to the NCAA Tournament and hopefully make a run."
Taylor Torres, Sr., Forward
1. Having a high work ethic
2. Fighting until the end
3. We're not content with where we are
Dominique James, Jr., Defender
1. Being consistent
2. Staying focused on the goal at hand
3. Playing for one another
Carissa Sanders, Sr., Defender
"We have to be consistent in the games ahead. Another key element is putting defense first and I'd say we've got to want it more than the other teams."
He quickly turned to see who was walking by and lowered his glasses.
As soon as he saw it was Aaliyah Nolan, a huge grin came over his face. He raised his voice and before Nolan could get very far from his door on her way to the locker room he yelled out her name in a playful tone.
Nolan quickly stopped and smiled.
"How about Man U," Hedlund said laughing.
Nolan stumbling over her words, sat in a chair, slouched, her hair covering her eyes, sweatpants baggy and hanging low, finally collected her thoughts and went on a rant about her struggling soccer club.
"Come on Aaliyah," Hedlund said again in playful tone.
Like Groundhog Day, nearly every day for the past two years, this same situation, with this same two people and the same tone and lively atmosphere has been the scene inside Hedlund's office.
"The moment I saw her play I knew we had to offer her," Hedlund said of Nolan.
"I wanted to go to North Texas before I was even offered a scholarship," Nolan responded.
From her nonchalant style and joyful personality to her advanced soccer skills and deep love for the game, there's a lot about Nolan that makes her unique. But what's made her unique has also made her one of the most beloved Mean Green soccer players, both with her teammates and with the coaches.
Last Wednesday, Nolan became even more loved when she clinched the number one seed in the Conference USA Tournament for North Texas with a two-goal performance at Middle Tennessee, including the overtime game-winning goal.
Exactly a week later, Nolan and the Mean Green are in Norfolk, Virginia, preparing to defend their title as the C-USA Tournament champions with an opening round match against the eight-seed Rice Owls at 3:30 p.m. CT. The game will air live on ESPN+.
"Her skills are top-notch," Hedlund said of Nolan. "She's got a tremendous left foot and she always has the highest soccer IQ on the field."
One more thing that make Nolan unique is her nationality.
Nolan was born and raised on the 20-square-mile island of Bermuda.
She is the first and so far only international UNT soccer player. She's also only the second player ever born outside of the state of Texas.
How a Bermudan got to Denton, let alone Texas, began when she was 12.
Nolan, a gifted athlete who played other sports as well, quickly made the small island's national soccer team only a few years after she began playing. Her time with the national team allowed her to travel abroad and play against other countries, such as Jamaica whose head coach is also the head coach at Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas.
After seeing Nolan in person, Wilson offered her a spot on her college team.
"To attend a U.S. college was always a goal of mine," said the all-conference and all-academic forward. "But Texas was different. In Bermuda every one knows every one. So if you get in trouble everyone knows. At Navarro, there wasn't much to do except soccer or get in trouble," she said with a laugh.
"So I played a lot of soccer," she added.
In the spring of 2017, Nolan had offers from many division one schools but she had her eyes set on one in particular.
"I did my research and saw all the championships UNT had won," Nolan said. "I figured the coach at North Texas must be good."
Nolan got her chance that spring to showcase her skills for Hedlund when in a scrimmage against North Texas she scored a goal and had an assist against.
"She was so good up front," Hedlund said thinking back to the match. "I knew we had to have her be part of the program."
Less than two years later, Nolan has become a huge part of the Mean Green soccer family and will be missed by her underclass teammates when she leaves.
"She's everyone's best friend," said junior Madeline Guderian. "She's a joy to be around every day and it will suck when she's gone."
The team leader in goals this season, Nolan has provided North Texas with quite a bit of magic this season and hopes last Wednesday's performance wasn't the crowning moment of a season that isn't over yet.
"We still have a lot to accomplish," Nolan said. "We want to defend our conference tournament championship and we have to focus on that and play as a team."
KEYS TO DEFENDING THE TITLE
Natalie Newell, Jr., Defender
"We just need to regroup from Sunday's game and learn from our mistakes and fix those on Wednesday but not dwell on the loss. we also need to stay positive and be confident and remember what we're capable of and play our style and how we know how to play. also, we need to have that drive to win that we usually always have and not settle for just the regular season title but for the conference tournament title as well so we can go on to the NCAA Tournament and hopefully make a run."
Taylor Torres, Sr., Forward
1. Having a high work ethic
2. Fighting until the end
3. We're not content with where we are
Dominique James, Jr., Defender
1. Being consistent
2. Staying focused on the goal at hand
3. Playing for one another
Carissa Sanders, Sr., Defender
"We have to be consistent in the games ahead. Another key element is putting defense first and I'd say we've got to want it more than the other teams."
Players Mentioned
Defense
/ Women's Soccer
Defense
/ Women's Soccer
Defense
/ Women's Soccer
Forward
/ Women's Soccer
Defense
/ Women's Soccer
Forward
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