It’s hard to decide what the soccer team’s seniors will be most remembered for: their extraordinary talent or their dance moves.

This Friday is Senior Day for Kansas, and it will be a little more serious than the fun-loving seniors would prefer. The team needs a victory against Missouri and a loss from either Baylor or Texas Tech to advance to the Big 12 Tournament.

“It’s not just Senior Day, but it’s also the game that potentially makes or breaks our season,” senior Monica Dolinsky said.

But don’t expect Dolinsky and her four senior classmates to be too somber — it just wouldn’t be their style.

“We play so much better when we’re having fun,” senior Estelle Johnson said.

Playing well and having fun has defined this class since they arrived as freshmen. All five— Dolinsky, Johnson, and their classmates Kim Boyer, Julie Hanley, and Shannon McCabe— were talented enough to play significantly in their first year, and since then they’ve become the core of the team.

“It’s been a very good group for us,” coach Mark Francis said. “We knew they had that potential, and they’ve all improved since they’ve been here.”

During their careers, the seniors have earned weekly and All-Big 12 honors, they’ve been recognized by national publications and their names sit near the top of multiple Kansas career statistics lists. But the seniors would rather reminisce about pre-game dances and botched hair dye jobs than discuss records and statistics.

“We’ll remember all the road trips and all the stupid dances and all the dumb things we always did,” Hanley said.

Adventures ranging from sharing dorm rooms as freshmen to a team trip to Brazil last year have helped to make the group inseparable. They now share a friendship that transcends just sports.

“You can’t really put our relationships into words,” Dolinsky said.

Hanley agreed.

“It sounds so stupid, and everyone says it, but they’re like sisters,” Hanley said. “I just don’t think you get that everywhere at all the other programs.”

This year, the relationship shared by the five seniors has shaped the dynamic of the entire team. From the beginning of the season, the seniors focused on including every player regardless of playing time or class. Francis said that attitude has allowed the team’s underclassmen to flourish.

“They’ve done a great job of integrating them in, and obviously those guys have contributed a lot,” he said. “I think the seniors have had a lot to do with that.”

Junior Caitlin Noble said the tight-knit atmosphere set by the seniors has motivated the team all year.

“Our team has the most team chemistry I’ve ever seen throughout club or high school,” she said. “We do what we do for each other, and they’re huge role models.”

Despite a great team dynamic, the season hasn’t turned out to be as rewarding as the seniors might have hoped. The team is now entering the last game and holds few postseason hopes. This is a far cry from the beginning of the season when the team chanted its goal of “Big 12 Champs” after every practice. But the seniors aren’t dwelling on what could have been.

“You can sit here and say all the ‘what ifs’ and drive yourself crazy about it, and if you’re not in the tournament it doesn’t make any difference,” said Hanley.

Johnson emphasized the positives.

“This is the best team I’ve ever been on at Kansas for sure,” said Johnson. “We’ve had some great players here like Holly Gault and Afton Saurer, but I’d say, as a team, this is the best team I’ve ever played on. It just sucks that little things have cost us games.”

Whether the Jayhawks continue on to postseason or end up playing their last game this Friday, one thing is certain: None of the seniors are ready to end their careers and leave the team that has defined their college experience.

“I’m sure I’ll probably cry because it’s been the past four years of my life,” McCabe added. “And now that it’s over, it’s kind of like ‘what now?’”

Boyer agrees.

“It’ll hit me when we’re all done and I don’t have to come to practice and meetings and have it be a part of every day of my life,” she said.

Right now, the seniors’ post-graduation plans range from coaching to graduate school to professional soccer, but each said they would be sure keep in touch with each other.

“When I look back on the whole experience, I’m not going to remember our record or anything like that,” McCabe said. “We’re going to remember the times we had together, the crazy goals we scored, and the relationships. That’s really what it’s about.”

— Edited by Brenna M. T. Daldorph