USC’s Olsen is stopper in NCAA show

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- At heart, Kristin Olsen has always thought of herself as a forward.

So it was natural that she would follow her dream of goal-scoring glory throughout her youth soccer days in Lake Forest and San Juan Capistrano, as well as much of her career at Villa Park High.

But when she was 14 or 15, her club coach with the Southern California Blues stunned her by saying that her soccer prospects would be enhanced if she played goal.

Or, as she remembered it, “He decided to stick me in goal.”

Why?

“He thought I had potential,” Olsen said, “and I was enormous.”

She cried.

“I hated it,” she said. “But I got better at it. I got training, and it just slowly evolved into something bigger than I expected.”

Big enough for her to help USC write a new chapter in the school’s athletic history Sunday afternoon.

Olsen, a 6-foot sophomore, finished the Trojans’ first NCAA soccer title run with a shutout of Florida State and all-tournament defensive player honors.

She wasn’t tested very often Sunday in USC’s 2-0 victory, played in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 8,255 at a stuffed-to-the-gills Aggie Soccer Stadium, but when she was challenged she provided the calm demeanor and timely saves that have become her hallmark.

“The first time I saw her play, we were like, ‘Oh my God, that kid can fly,’” first-year Coach Ali Khosroshahin said.

Yet, it took her a lot of work with assistant coach Laura Janke and most of the season before she truly soared.

“She’s a very good goalkeeper. She’s grown tremendously,” Khosroshahin said.

“I think before, she just depended on her athleticism and was a shot-stopper. I think now she’s developing into a complete goalkeeper.”

She was completely intimidating to the Seminoles -- and to most of the opponents who preceded them.

Olsen gave up one goal in the tournament, to UCLA in the Trojans’ 2-1 semifinal upset of the Bruins on Friday.

She was credited with only two saves Sunday, but her looming presence and clear, constant communication with her back line -- a distinct contrast to the confusion that reigned among the Seminoles’ defenders and led to both USC goals -- made her a vital force for 90 minutes.

“They have good athletes,” Seminoles Coach Mark Krikorian said, “and behind the back line is a goalkeeper who is quite good.”

Olsen wasn’t sure that the Trojans would be this good this season.

The team was 11-5-5 overall last season under coach Jim Millinder, including only 3-2-4 in Pacific 10 Conference play, and was eliminated in the second round of last season’s NCAA tournament.

Again.

Then, Khosroshahin was hired and he began to drive players harder than they’d ever been pushed before.

For the first half of the season, a kind of uneasy truce prevailed between coach and players.

“It was kind of intimidating,” Olsen said of his arrival.

“He really pushed us hard and basically ran us to death. A lot of players rebelled and we didn’t like it, but at the end of practice we said, ‘This really needs to change and we’ve got to step it up.’

“He really showed us what we were going to do and what he was about.”

It was what they needed, a firm but fair hand pushing them to achieve the potential he knew they had, even if they didn’t know it themselves.

Olsen said the Trojans’ 2-1 victory over Portland on Sept. 30 was a turning point because it inspired players to believe they had the talent and needed only to continue to push themselves.

They knew if they didn’t do the pushing, Khosroshahin would do it for them.

“He did a great job of making everything even,” Olsen said. “He didn’t want to know anything about our players’ past. He wanted to make his own assumptions, and I think that really helped for the better.

“That really transformed our team, and a lot of us getting this far really goes to him.”

She turned to her coach, who was listening intently.

“So thank you,” she said.

“Thank you,” he replied.

The mutual admiration society is entirely appropriate.

Olsen, 19, may be only starting to blossom. She played for the U.S. women’s Under-20 national team last summer after having played three games for the Trojans as a freshman.

And yes, one of those games was in the field -- five minutes against Washington.

Khosroshahin said he wouldn’t hesitate to use her in the field someday.

“When we do our skills test, she finishes first almost every time, the field-player tests that we do,” he said.

“She’s a very good forward too. We’ve kidded around about throwing her up front.”

Olsen surely wouldn’t object. She hasn’t given up on the idea of dribbling downfield, dancing past a posse of defenders and booting the ball into the net.

“I love playing on the field,” she said. “I think if you would have told me a couple days ago what I’d prefer, I probably would have said on the field.

“I wouldn’t want to switch back, but I wouldn’t mind still playing in the field.”

Some dreams die hard. Others are realized.

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Helene Elliott can be reached at helene.elliott@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Elliott, go to latimes.com/elliott.