Nothing is Impossible: Korea University Women’s Soccer Team
Winning Two Games Back-to-back in the First Year of Its Establishment
Despite Injuries and Some of the Key Players Having Left for the National Team

Korea University seized the championship trophy in the Women’s College Soccer Match of the 96th National Sports Festival, defeating Jeju International University by the score of 3-0, in the final match held at Gangneung Jungang Girls’ High School on October 22, at 2 p.m. Established this year, the KU Women’s Soccer Team distinguished itself in its very first National Sports Festival.

Pressing hard from the beginning, KU’s Ye-Eun Park (Class of 2015, Global Sports Studies) scored the first goal in the 25th minute. Once boosted, the team’s morale never came down. KU, constantly outpacing the opposing team both in ball possession and the number of passes, eventually scored a second goal by Hye-Soo Hwang (’15, Global Sports Studies) in the 45th minute ？ a moment before the end of the first half of the match.

Korea University dominated the second half of the match as well. Jeju International University’s team struggled to turn the game around, but KU’s midfielders and defenders never allowed it to happen. KU’s swift intercepts and tackles kept the team’s lead intact. In extra time, Ye-Eun Park, who scored the first goal, scored again to put the match away.

KU’s victory in the National Sports Festival is actually the second of its existence: it also won the trophy in 2015 Fall Korea Women’s Football Championship (FKWFC). In the final, KU defeated Ulsan College of Science (UCS) by the score of 4 to 0. FKWFC was the first time the KU Women’s Soccer Team showed its superior skill. As KU’s Kim Ye-Jin (2015, Global Sports Studies) and the team’s manager Sang-Soo Yoo (1992, Physical Education) received, respectively, the Best Player Award and the Best Manager Award, giving an example of the dominance displayed by the team.
 
The Korea University Women’s Soccer Team was established in December 2014, and participated in its first match in 2015. As a result being a newly founded team, it currently consists of only students in their first year of college. Although some of its key players were injured or have left for the National Team, the team won two trophies in its very first year of competition. The KU Women’s Soccer Team now has the best record among all college/university-level women’s soccer teams in Korea. It is already being labeled as “the enfant terrible.”

The KU Women’s Soccer Team has finished all its official matches this year. It will continue to recruit players from prospective first-year students in order to strengthen the team. Some of its players already have experience in international matches, thereby empowering the team even more. Team manager Sang-Soo Yoo’s intricate strategies are also integral factors in the team’s success. Based on what we have seen so far, we simply cannot help but expect the KU Women’s Soccer Team to continue their success.