It was a tearful goodbye for seniors Carolyn Noble and Britni Crone after last Friday’s season finale. The game marked the last time the lone pair of seniors on the team would put on the Nicholls uniform as players.
After four, or in Noble’s case, five, seasons with the team, the seniors have created a number of memories with the Colonels. Crone, defender from Houma, and Noble, a midfielder and defender from Ontario, were both part of a 2010 squad that posted the best record in team history, and the overtime win against ULM that season stands as a favorite memory for both players.
“It was such a big team to beat at that time, an in-state rival and a great team,” Noble said. “I just remember we were about six minutes into overtime, I got the ball and played it to Kaity Mattsson. She scored and the entire team including Dylan (Harrison) and Kristen (Fillmore), our coaches, ran onto the field and just jumped on each other into a dog pile.”
The win marked a four-game winning streak for the team, making the record the best in team history at the time.
“We were so excited and happy,” Noble said. “I cannot even explain it.”
Crone recalled a vision mishap during a win against ULL her junior year.
“It was a great win and confidence booster for the team,” Crone said. “Not to mention, my eye contact fell out in the middle of the game, and I had to borrow a teammate’s.”
The seniors, even with the memories, will each miss different aspects of being a part of Nicholls soccer. Noble will miss the opportunity to play the game she loves on a regular basis, a privilege she has had in her time with the team.
“I am really going to miss the opportunity to just go out every single day and just play soccer,” Noble said. “In the real world, I don’t think I will have that kind of time to do something I truly love every single day.”
Crone said she would miss not only the competition with other teams, but also working with her own teammates.  
“I am very competitive,” said Crone.  “I love practicing with my team and making them the best players they can be.”
Most of all, the girls said they would miss their teammates and the bond they have formed with them over dozens of games and road trips. The team has become a second family for Noble.
“Being so far from home, these girls have become my family these last four and a half years,” Noble said. “The girls have made the experience what it was for me, and I have so many special relationships with all of them.”
Being on the Nicholls soccer team has been a learning experience that goes beyond the soccer field for the seniors.
Noble said the highs and lows of playing have helped her discover her own mental toughness, while coming back from injury taught her about overcoming obstacles.
“After tearing my ACL last year and having to sit out a full year, go through a major surgery and make a comeback, I realized that I can do anything and overcome anything that’s thrown at me,” Noble said.
For Crone, her athletic career has taught her how to be part of a team and what it feels like to be part of one.
“I learned that nothing I did on this team was just for myself,” Crone said. “It was to better my team. Everything you do affects someone else, and that will definitely help me in the future.”
The two are the last remaining players from fourth year head coach Dylan Harrison’s inaugural season at Nicholls. Having been with the team since the start of his tenure, the two have helped form a foundation for the program Harrison is still building and a philosophy the program stands for.
“He changed our image on campus and in the community,” Crone said. “He took on the challenge to turn our program around. He was exactly what the program needed and this is why we have come so far the past four years.”
The change marked a new beginning for the team, according to Noble, and she admires the attitude he has brought to the team.
“He just brought so much hope and energy to our team,” Noble said. “We needed that kind of fresh start. The best thing about Dylan is that he is well respected as our coach, but he’s also someone you can joke around with and talk to about anything. I’m really thankful that he came in and for all that he’s done for our program.”
Both stressed the bright future they see for the program they have been a part of over their college careers.
“The results are coming for the girls,” Noble said. “I know they are.”
“This is just the start, and we are not done accomplishing and making a name for Nicholls soccer,” Crone said.
Noble summed up the experience as a Colonel soccer player in one statement.
“It really has been the absolute best time of my entire life.”