But that was only one of the firsts this team achieved. The Women of Troy, seeded second, had five shutouts in the tournament, a feat that was unprecedented. (In fact, only one goal was scored against them during the entire tournament.) The team’s overall record this year was 20 wins (including 15 shutouts), 3 losses and 2 ties. Only 13 goals were allowed during the season.

In addition, their coach, Ali Khosroshahin, who took over the program last January, became the first head coach to lead a Division I team to the NCAA title in his first year. At a press conference after the game, Khosroshahin said that it took a while for his team members to believe in themselves. “But [since] they started to believe, it’s been a spectacular run. It’s been so much fun.”

There’s more. Junior midfielder Ashley Nick and sophomore goalkeeper Kristin Olsen were named to the NSCAA All-America Second Team, marking the first time that USC has had more than one player earn national accolades in a season. Khosroshahin was named the Soccer Buzz magazine’s National Coach of the Year, as well as the top coach in the West Region. Their title was the university’s 107th national team title and 21st by a women’s team. Eighty-five of the national titles are NCAA championships.

And, if that’s not enough, USC was the first school in NCAA history to have soccer and water polo reach the NCAA championship game, volleyball reach the NCAA semifinals and football play in a BCS bowl game in the same calendar year.

Speaking of football, David Baker, father of offensive lineman Sam Baker, wrote a tribute to his son and his coach in November, just before the USC-UCLA game, and the later decisive win over Illinois in the Rose Bowl. We’ve reprinted it in its entirety (http://www.usc.edu/dept/pubrel/trojan_family/spring08/commentary.html); it’s a great way to start the new year.

 – Susan Heitman