For ASU soccer player Liz Harkin, the decision has become bittersweet.
Last year, the junior defender earned a spot on the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team, a feat she referred to as “something you could only dream about.”
But as ASU’s regular season winds down, Harkins’ opportunity is shadowed by another —the Sun Devils potentially making the NCAA playoffs.
Because of her busy schedule, Harkin was forced to miss ASU’s conference battle against Cal on Oct. 24.
As part of the preparations for the upcoming FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Chile, U.S. coach Tony DiCicco held a camp at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., from Oct. 19-21.
The team then traveled to Portland, Ore., where it tied Canada on Oct. 23, and won two days later.
All that back and forth has left little time for Harkin to be with teammates at practice.
Harkin is back in Arizona and will compete for the Sun Devils this weekend in the squad’s final games against Washington and Washington State.
“It’s been really difficult,” she said. “It’s so hard to leave my team, and especially after next weekend.
“If we put ourselves in a position to make [the] playoffs, I wouldn’t have a chance to go. It’d be heartbreaking but it’s a decision I had to make and I made it before the season started.”
Harkin’s national team experience has allowed her to develop her skills as a soccer player, which will be put to good use when she returns to Tempe.
“When you reach that level, it forces you to play faster and play smarter,” she said.
Harkin said she believes she’s been able to improve upon her technical ability, and is now trying to work on her decision-making on the field.
“I don’t want to just react,” she said. “I want to force the other team to react to what I’m doing, to influence the speed of play and the direction of play.”
The games against Canada were Harkin’s first international soccer experiences, and the last such matches for the U.S. before its first game in Chile.
Though it had already qualified, the U.S. lost to Canada 1-0 on June 28 in the title game of a World Cup qualifying tournament. Harkin did not play in the contest.
“It was good for us to see them again,” Harkin said. “It was awesome to play an international team like that, and we also got to play at the Nike complex, which was very special. It was a great first experience.”
The U.S. counters France on Nov. 19 and Argentina on Nov. 22 at the Estadio Nelson Oyarzun in Chillán. The team finishes group play on Nov. 26 against China.
The 20-player roster features players from 17 different universities from across the country.
“Obviously, it’s going to be very high level [of play],” she said. “It’s a solid group, but our expectations are still to do well; our goal is to win the gold.”
Harkin is set to leave for Chile on Nov. 11 and could stay into December if the U.S. can advance past the group stage.
Reach the reporter at emiley.darling@asu.edu.
