Five questions with Heather Ward Who has inspired you throughout your soccer career? “I love (Team USA defender) Julie Johnston. She played great and she’s consistent and she’s young. So I think that’s really inspiring because she is closer to my age and she just got out of college. She’s a great player and can organize her defense and that kind of leadership is very rare in players, and I think it’s something everyone can learn from, especially being a defender.” What do you do after a match to cool down? “One of the advantages of being in-state is I am able to see my family after the game. After a huge win it’s great just running over to the sideline and hugging them and having them be as excited for me as I am.” Do you go out and celebrate with friends after a game? “All my roommates were from Colorado and their parents would come up as well so we would go out to dinner and it would be all of our families and we would be able to get everyone together after games.” Before a game what do you like to do to so you aren’t stressing out too much? “We have speakers in the locker rooms so we’ll just blast music, and everyone is dancing and the energy is flowing and everyone is just pumped about the game.” Who helps to calm your nerves and make you feel better no matter how a game went? “My old roommate Bianca (Jones) just went to go play professional soccer overseas and she was always there for me no matter what. She could always calm me down or get me excited. I could always rely on her.”

Goal after goal was scored. Suddenly it was 4-0, and the USA women’s soccer team looked unbeatable in the World Cup final last month in Canada.

No one knew how to act. The fans stared at each other in amazement.

Cheering among thousands of other American fans in Vancouver during the 5-2 U.S. win over Japan, CU soccer player Heather Ward felt inspired by the connection the USA players had with each other. Watching them race down the field she was reminded of her own team and the way they work together.

“We knew this was going to be our game and we knew this was our time to win and represent for the U.S.,” Ward said. “As a defender, the one moment I really remember was when it was 4-2 and we were defending. … The ball got turned around, it was loose in the box, and Hope Solo made a great save and she came up and hugged her defender. That bond between the defender and her goalkeeper is something really special because you just have this instant connection of how you play together.”

Ward, a 5-foot-11 defender from Littleton, will begin her senior season this week for the Buffs. CU’s preseason practice begins Wednesday and the first game is Aug. 21 at Colorado State.

“It was really amazing to be able to see the U.S. win in person,” Ward said. “Seeing the emotions and everything that came out of the players is so relatable because when you win it’s the highest feeling and when you lose it just breaks you down. It definitely gives me hope for future women’s soccer and soccer in the U.S.”

Ward said she is excited but nervous for the upcoming season, ready to make it her best. Last year, the CU women’s team made it to the NCAA tournament, where the Buffs beat BYU in the first round before losing to North Carolina. Ward has confidence this year that her team can go even deeper into the tournament.

“This upcoming season, senior year, goes by faster than I thought it would,” she said. “It really makes me want to pursue my dreams and see that they are achievable, going into this last season. Working with my team and working as hard as I can and leaving it all on the field so that I can have the best senior year possible.”

Watching the U.S. women’s World Cup games was not only an amazing opportunity for Ward but it also brought her more confidence for her own soccer career. It helped her to believe that anything is possible.

“I saw the chemistry between the players and how well they relied on each other, and that accountability on your teammates is huge because you have to be able to trust your teammate, that they are going to have your back and be able to make plays,” Ward said. “That’s something that we can all carry away from the World Cup. We have each other and on the field we can accomplish anything.”

One of Ward’s teammates, Alex Huynh, also attended one of the tournament’s matches in Winnipeg. Huynh, a 5-6 junior, was at the Austria vs. USA match.

Huynh felt many of the same emotions that Ward did while watching the games. She was able to see similarities in Team USA to her own team through the way they both have grown together over time.

“America going into the World Cup was not that strong,” Huynh said. “But as the tournament went on they got better and I feel like we can relate a lot to that. We didn’t start off that strong (last season), and at the beginning no one thought that we were going to make Sweet 16 or final 32. But then as the season went on, people became aware of us and started to notice us and we definitely strengthened as we went on. I feel like that’s the same with (the U.S. team).”

Both Ward and Huynh have aspirations to play soccer after they graduate.

Knowing that so many of the Team USA women were once college players and are now World Cup champions, they know that it is possible for them to do the same.

“I think it’s so crazy that so many of the girls played in college and some of them were playing college even two years ago and now they are at the World Cup,” Huynh said. “Like Julie Johnston, who was playing at Santa Clara two years ago and now she could have gotten player of the tournament — she was that good. It’s just inspiring because they are like average Joes and then they go and play and now they’re world champions and everyone loves them.”

Annie Mehl: mehla@dailycamera.com