In her third year as a Triton, Megan Dickey capped off a near-perfect season for the UCSD women’s soccer team by bringing home the California Collegiate Athletic Association’s Most Valuable Player award. Beating out many other star CCAA athletes, the San Diego native led the Tritons with 33 points, stemming from 13 goals and nine assists during the team’s victorious run at the CCAA crown.
Dickey, who was also named to the All-CCAA First Team, scored two game-winning goals during the season: the first in the Tritons’ victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills on Sept. 21; the second at the CCAA semifinals on Nov. 4 against Chico State, in which Dickey scored the game-winning goal 55 minutes and five seconds into play.
“Going into each game, I am just looking to play and enjoy myself,” Dickey said. “I do get nervous at times and there are games that I walk away from disappointed in my performance, but that is part of the game.”
Since the age of five, Dickey has played soccer in the San Diego area, including 12 years on the Surf Soccer Club and four years on the Torrey Pines High School team. Dickey didn’t have to travel far from home to add collegiate soccer to her repertoire.
Dickey attributes much of her success to the strong support from her teammates and coaches.
“I have had a lot of great encouragement from the coaching staff and our entire team is supportive of each other,” Dickey said. “The thing about our team is that there is no one person that scores all the goals or is that much better than the next girl. We all play a big role in each other’s success and every game is different for everyone.”
Coming off a mediocre season last year, in which the ladies were snubbed from the NCAA playoffs — the first time since 1982 — the Tritons had much to prove this year. Dickey said that redeeming themselves from last year’s season, and showing the school and coaches that the team had an “amazing amount of potential,” had to be one of the toughest challenges the Tritons faced this year.
Because she is a junior, the team’s leading scorer will have one more year to improve.
“Being a senior next year, I want to enjoy myself,” Dickey said. “It may be my last chance to play competitive soccer. It is hard to think about going into my last year because I feel like the past three have flown by, but at the same time, I can’t wait and I hope it is my most memorable.”
But even before she enters her fourth year, Dickey will have her chance at a national title by leading the Tritons into battle against Cal State Dominguez Hills in the NCAA Far West Regional on Nov. 10.
“I, as well as the rest of the team, want [to win] a national championship,” she said. “I think knowing that we are good enough to achieve that as long as we put in the work has driven everyone to be successful. Now it is about taking it to the next level and beating the top teams in the country, which will be a true challenge of our character.”
