Courtney Shoda spends four to five days a week training. Similar to when she was a member of the Sonoma State Women’s Soccer Team from 2014-2017, appearing in 55 matches and scoring three goals as a defender. The only difference is now, instead of training to make the first team, or help her squad reach the top of the league table, she’s training to relearn much simpler things, like walking and cooking. This is due to a pair of scary life-threatening heart complications that have changed Shoda’s life.

This made Sunday a special day, when her number 22 was retired. It was a day to celebrate Courtney’s accomplishments and her impact on the program. “It’s a cliche, but it means everything,” Shoda said in a phone interview, when asked about the ceremony. Shoda continued saying “my whole heart goes out to the program and the future team, and the team now. It’s a huge honor.” The Seawolves celebrated Shoda with a ceremony before their game against Cal State Monterey Bay. The ceremony was short, but it was easy to tell how emotional people were, and how positive of an impact she has on the program and the people around her. Shoda has become a perfect embodiment of the Women’s Soccer program making it fitting that no future Seawolf will get to wear her number 22.

While training for a tournament in Humboldt, Courtney used her chest to control the ball before striking it, like she had done thousands of times before. This time, instead of continuing into the next phase of practice, Shoda collapsed suffering from commotio cordis, a disruption of the heart. Head Coach Emiria Salzmann and her husband Mark Dunn had to perform CPR on Shoda until her breathing continued, saving her life. In 2021 Courtney faced complications with her heart again when she went into cardiac arrest on multiple occasions, leading to her being placed on life support, and requiring a heart transplant.

Of her chilling experiences Shoda said they “taught me a lot about life. Things may not go your way, but everything happens for a reason.” She now spends one day a week with a physical therapist, and up to five days a week with a trainer, recovering from the transplant. Shoda has been making steady improvements as time goes on, walking better and better. Shoda emphasized how having a strong support system has helped her along the way, saying “I’m thankful for my family and my friends for being so supportive through it all. Basically starting from ground zero and being surrounded by so many people that lift me up and love me inspires me to try my all.”

For the game itself, the Seawolves took home a 2-1 victory. The first 20 minutes of the match were pretty uneventful, with each team creating minimal opportunities in the opponents half. Monterey Bay got the scoring going by capitalizing on a Seawolves defensive mistake to take a 1-0 lead in the twenty-first minute. The score held until the half as the Seawolves struggled to create a clean look at the goal. Things changed in the second half with a goal from Andrea Lozano in the fifty-fifth minute, and another one following quickly from Julia Pritchard in the fifty-seventh. It looked as if the Seawolves had figured out the Monterey defense and were going to put the game out of reach, however the Seawolves failed to net another goal. Fortunately the Sonoma defense was strong throughout the second half, helping the Seawolves extend their unbeaten run to five matches. Next up are fixtures with Cal State LA and Cal Poly Pomona down in Southern California.