When Sarah Jacobs embarked on an overseas odyssey to Australia, little did she anticipate the success awaiting her in the Sportsmart Women’s Premier League.
Her new team, Boroondara Eagles, finished in a top five position in 2014, but crashed out of the finals in straight sets – nonetheless a respectable achievement for a debut season in Victoria’s top flight.
While an improvement was expected in 2015, even the grandest of optimists at the club may have struggled to foresee a potential season treble on the cards, especially following Fil Simao’s resignation after three rounds due to work commitments.
Yet the American, along with her teammates and backroom staff led by new coach Shaun Ontong, are on the verge of making history on Sunday.
“It [the WPL title] would be great, especially with the club coming up through the ranks in the past few years,” Jacobs said.
“Last year was a bit disappointing in the finals series, so we have touched on that a bit and making sure giving everything they have until the very end.
“One of our goals is to win all three and complete the treble, so we’ve ticked off two boxes and have one to go.”
The first achievement to be ticked off was the Team App Cup in early August, with the Eagles triumphing 5-3 in a classic shootout against Bulleen Lions.
“I definitely think we were up for it, we definitely came out with a lot of energy, even with the back and forth goal scoring we didn’t give up,” she said about the final.
“It’ll depend on the day, I don’t think it’ll [the WPL final] be as high scoring, as both teams are a bit more disciplined defensively and I hope not to concede as many goals.”
Then came the premiership, crossed off the list just over two weeks later with two games to spare.
It completed an amazing run of 22 games unbeaten in cup and league competitions, finally broken in the penultimate round of the season by Box Hill United.
While the midfielder has often flown under the radar, she’s been a key part of a side that has scored the most WPL goals with 82 – 15 more than any other team – and conceded only 20 – four less than any other team – to record the best combined attacking and defensive record in the competition.
“Shaun’s done a great job preparing us … all year long, we’ve kept pretty consistent with what we’ve been doing and he keeps reminding us that we have been performing well and to keep doing that,” Jacobs says.
And now, all that stands in the way of an historic treble is a South Melbourne side looking to back-to-back and defend its title.
While the home-and-away encounters ended in two wins to the Eagles by a combined margin of eight goals, Jacobs isn’t underestimating her opponents, who are also peaking at the right time of the season.
“I’m really excited to play in the Grand Final and I just hope we can capitalise on all the work we’ve done this season,” she said.
“Those games [against South this season] are definitely in the past but they do give us a bit of confidence to build on.
“We’ve just been training really hard, really well the last few weeks, so we’ve just been doing everything we can to prepare, and yes we have done well this season so it gives us a lot of confidence to go on.”