Makamae Gomera-Stevens is feeling pretty elite these days.
Elite, as in the Elite Eight, where the Washington State women’s soccer team finds itself for the first time ever due in large part to the golden right foot of the 2017 Kamehameha alumna.
Gomera-Stevens, a junior, has scored twice in the postseason, including the first of three goals by the Cougars in a shutout of West Virginia to advance to the fourth round of the NCAA tournament, better known as the Elite Eight.
The Cougars (15-6-1) play No. 2 seed South Carolina on Black Friday for a spot in the College Cup in San Jose, Calif.
“It’s a really exciting time,” Gomera-Stevens said in a phone interview Tuesday after practicing in South Carolina.
The team stayed on the East Coast after beating No. 1 seed Virginia on Friday and West Virginia on Sunday.
The Cavaliers, ranked No. 3 in the country, had lost only one match all season before falling to the Cougars 3-2. Gomera-Stevens assisted on the first goal.
“It was actually really, really exciting that we were able to pull off a win against a No. 1-seeded team,” Gomera-Stevens said. “I think it’s good that our team went in with the attitude that we were going to win and we would do anything in our power to win.”
Washington State got off to a 7-1 start in nonconference play, with two victories coming in the Rainbow Wahine Shootout, including 1-0 against host Hawaii.
However, the Cougars finished tied for sixth in Pac-12 play with a 5-5-1 mark, losing all four conference matches against ranked opponents.
That made the win over Virginia even more shocking.
“First and foremost, our team is peaking at the right time,” Gomera-Stevens said. “I think we’re playing the exact same soccer we were playing before, but what is different is every single person, 1 through 33, all has the same dream.
“We all have the same goal, and if you watch our games, you’ll see every single person is doing what they can to get to the ball and win the ball forward, and once you see one person working hard doing that, then everyone starts working hard for us.”
Virginia is the only No. 1 seed eliminated in the tournament so far. Four Pac-12 teams are in the final eight.
Gomera-Stevens has already started 50 matches for the Cougars over her first three seasons. She’s scored five of her nine career goals and registered five of her eight assists this season. Four of those goals have been game-winners.
One of the best parts of being a Cougar is playing in a town like Pullman, Wash., she says.
Everywhere she goes, someone is always yelling “Go Cougs” when she passes by.
“Everybody is a Cougar fan and everyone is really supportive of us,” Gomera-Stevens said. “That’s what I really liked (on my recruiting visit). Everywhere you go, you get asked if you play soccer and then people will say they were at the game. Even our professors in class will talk about our soccer games.”
She hasn’t seen those professors much recently. The team left for Virginia on Nov. 19 and will have been on the road for 10 days when they play the second-seeded Gamecocks at 1 p.m. on Friday.
Gomera-Stevens said she was confident the Cougars would knock off the Cavaliers, but admitted she “definitely packed light.”
“I knew I could just wash clothes if need be,” Gomera-Stevens said.
Just maybe not this much.
