The state tournament couldn't come sooner for Sam De Luca.
De Luca and the Episcopal Collegiate girls soccer team lost to Central Arkansas Christian in their third game of the season. That 1-0 defeat would stick with the Wildcats as they went on to allow 2 goals the rest of the regular season.
De Luca, a junior, would go on a tear throughout the season, scoring 42 goals and assisting 15 in 16 games on her way to being named the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps Girls Soccer Player of the Year.
With De Luca at the center of the Episcopal Collegiate offense, Coach Duke Ophof said his team "always has a chance."
"It's a great honor to be kind of depended on and be relied on to score," De Luca said. "But also it comes with a lot of pressure. A lot of times you make mistakes, and it makes you harder on yourself for sure. But knowing that everyone's counting on you ... makes me very proud."
After winning the first two games of the Class 3A girls state tournament by a combined score of 17-0, the Wildcats had their rematch. But not before Mother Nature had her say.
Episcopal Collegiate would have to wait 3 1/2 hours before its matchup with CAC was postponed. Two days later, it was finally time and the Wildcats made the most of it, defeating CAC 2-1 to advance to the state title game against Harding Academy.
"We knew we were seeing CAC in [the state tournament]," De Luca said. "We showed up to that game, we were ready to play and we killed it."
Episcopal Collegiate had faced Harding Academy in the 2021 state tournament, losing in the semifinal, but it was without De Luca, who opted to spend her sophomore season with her club team, Arkansas Rising.
The decision to opt out of her high school season, and not play for the school she had attended since the fifth grade, was made for one reason -- to raise her profile with college recruiters.
It ultimately worked. De Luca committed to play at Saint Louis University in October 2021, two weeks after receiving an official scholarship offer.
It wasn't hard for her to choose SLU over schools like Arkansas and Auburn, because it offered something the big SEC schools didn't -- a commitment to her, not just what she could do on the field.
"They told me that first I was a person, then I was a student, then I was a player," De Luca said. "That really sat different with me because all the other big SEC schools are always focused on soccer, soccer, soccer But at the end of the day, soccer might not work out and while I want it to work out and be a profession of mine, it might not and SLU wanted me to be a person first."
De Luca said she accepts that there are cons that come with committing nearly two years before graduating high school. But having seen her teammates in the past rush to find schools as they neared graduation, she said she felt the pros of her commitment outweigh any of them.
"I didn't really understand when people said, 'Once you know, you know.' But now I completely understand that." De Luca said about her first visit to SLU. "That's how I was with SLU ... stepping onto that campus and talking to people, I knew the moment I [arrived].
De Luca planned on playing her freshman season with Episcopal Collegiate before covid-19 ended the season. Two years later, she wanted to play for her school again with a grueling recruiting process over with and her college future set.
"The moment I called [SLU] and told them I committed that just felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders," De Luca said. "I didn't have to send any more emails. I didn't have to contact any other coaches. The recruitment process is hard. And once you are finally done with it, it feels so much better."
Episcopal Collegiate would go on to lose the Class 3A state title game, with De Luca doing what she always does and scoring the goal.
The Wildcats played the 2022 season with 14 varsity players, meaning injuries, fatigue and shorthanded practices came with the territory. But despite the season ending in defeat, De Luca said she couldn't be more proud of the season her team had.
"We just grew together and were challenged," De Luca said. "There's a lot of pros and cons, but I would rather take that team over a team of 40 for sure."