Three weeks into her freshman season in 2009, Meleana Shim experienced that moment.

On the opposite side of the country, Shim and the Santa Clara women’s soccer team had a road match at Maryland in College Park.

Surrounded by a team filled with fourth- and fifth-year seniors, the ’09 Kamehameha graduate was suddenly overcome with the realization that she was indeed a Division I soccer player.

"I got that cool feeling of being a freshman on an away trip with a bunch of old players," said Shim, now a senior. "I had never been (to Maryland) before … and I was with a ton of big sisters."

Although young, Shim was an integral part of the team her freshman year. She played in 20 of the Broncos’ 23 matches and even started a game in the NCAA tournament as Santa Clara advanced all the way to the round of 16 before losing to Stanford.

Three years later, Shim hopes to get back there as she completes her final year of eligibility with the Broncos, who are 8-3-4 overall and 1-1-1 in West Coast Conference play.

Santa Clara is coming off a tough 2-1 loss to Pepperdine on Sunday in which Shim attempted one shot on goal.

"We haven’t had the best start as far as results go," Shim said. "It’s tough because our conference this year is really strong, but our goal is to always win our conference."

Shim has played in the NCAA tournament every year but has advanced one round less every year.

Santa Clara was bounced in the first round in 2011 on penalty kicks by California.

"Our ability to play really well is probably higher than the teams I have been on in the past, which is awesome," Shim said. "You can see it in moments and you can see we’re getting closer and closer.

"One thing that is different this year is that we’re picking things up now and getting better toward the end of the season, where in the past we’ve also been a good team but haven’t really made things happen at the end of the season and in the postseason."

Santa Clara hosts Gonzaga on Sunday in its first home match since beating LMU 1-0 last Friday.

It was the first time Shim played an LMU team without former club teammates Erin Rementer and Brittney Sanford, who graduated last year.

Shim says the most exciting matches she plays are usually when she faces people from back home.

"It was always so fun for us to play each other after club soccer," Shim said. "I like following the girls from Hawaii and seeing how they are doing."

Through 12 games, Shim has one goal and one assist. She missed a game earlier in the season because of a nagging back injury and was forced to sit out two games after suffering a concussion.