1993: Title No. 3 in '93
A two-year "dry spurt" came after that championship-winning season in 1990, including a 1992 campaign in which the program did not earn a berth to the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in its seven years of existence.
"The slogan of the entire season was 'No regrets,' no matter whether that meant our workouts were going to harder than ever," said Lynn Heath, a senior on the 1993 team. "I even remember training over the summer, feeling like, 'This is it. I've got to make up for my junior year. I don't want to let anybody down.'
"I think everybody on the team felt that way about each other. No one wanted to let anybody- either the coaches or their teammates- down that year."
On the heels of a sub-regional defeat versus William Carey University in November, Berry braced for its season to come to a close. But a wild-card berth to the NAIA National Tournament still remained up for grabs, leaving the team anxiously awaiting the final word.
"I remember Becky had us all over to the house, and we were making a ton of promises," Heath said. "'If we get this wild card, we'll do anything.' And sure enough we got the wild card, and it started from the minute we got the phone call.
"It was that night…it could've been midnight. I don't even know what time it was, but Becky had us out running that night as soon as we found out. We were ecstatic. We kind of knew you don't get second chances like that and we were going to make the most of it for sure."
Now with new life breathed into its title chase, Berry traveled up to Lindenwood College in St. Charles, Missouri, and proceeded to advance to the finale against arguably its biggest rival to date: Lynn University, formerly known 'College of Boca Raton.'
On a chilly Friday in late November, the two teams matched up at Harlen C. Hunter Stadium. In a game played on a turf field in frigid conditions, the action went into three overtimes. Berry would emerge victorious, 1-0. The golden goal came on a roommate-to-roommate connection between Heath and Tracy Moll.
"When we scored the goal to win in overtime, everybody was so excited, but we were so cold it was hard to celebrate," said Burleigh, who now coaches at the University of Florida.
"It was almost like a storybook ending that that's how we ended our careers together," said Heath of assisting on Moll's championship-winning goal.
"When we scored, it was a surreal experience because games usually don't end on a goal," said Michele Kelmer. "We scored, and I remember my teammates who were on the bench running past me to celebrate, and it took me a second to realize that that was the end of the game."
