Willamette University junior Liz Heaston never anticipated the media attention that came with being the first woman to play college football.
"I kind of knew it was coming, but not really," she said Sunday night. "I guess it just comes along with what happened."The 20-year-old woman kicked two extra points as Willamette defeated Linfield College 27-0 on Saturday.
The day had long been anticipated; women at Duke and Louisville had come close to playing, but never got into a game.
"This was a once-in-a-lifetime shot," said Heaston, a star defender on the women's soccer team. "It was a good experience, but I've got to take care of soccer now."
She was back on the soccer field Sunday afternoon, helping Willamette defeat Pacific Lutheran 3-2.
"I'm glad I did it. It was fun," she said of her short-lived football career. "I would do it again in a heartbeat."
Heaston had been recruited by coach Dan Hawkins to fill in for injured starting kicker Gordon Thomson.
It wasn't about making a statement, or a publicity stunt, the coach insisted. "She was the perfect person to do it," Hawkins said of Heaston. "There's no reason a girl who can kick like her can't play college football."
Heaston believes anyone who can do the job should be given the chance.
"I hope people realize that females can do this," she said. "If there are girls out there who want to, I say go for it."
Coincidentally, Saturday, the Bearcats' homecoming game, was Thomson's first day back after being out for more than a year.
"It came really naturally to her," said Thomson, who stood next to Heaston on the sideline during much of the game and kicked two field goals and the other extra point. "You didn't have to say anything. The first time she kicked the football, it was perfect."
Heaston said Saturday that she and her friends "used to laugh about it in high school, watching (football on the TV) and saying, `I bet I could do that.' "
Heaston had been practicing with the football team for about three weeks.
On Saturday, she played in a soccer game at noon, a 2-0 victory over Puget Sound. Then she hopped into her parents' van, switched her soccer uniform for a football jersey and pads, and rode four blocks to the football field.
She arrived midway through the first quarter of the 1:30 p.m. game.
She had been in the stadium barely 30 minutes when Hawkins sent her in to kick the extra point following the Bearcats' second touchdown, a 2-yard run by Ardell Bailey with 57 seconds left in the first half.
The over-capacity crowd at 2,400-seat McCulloch Stadium went wild as the 5-foot-5, 120-pound Heaston jogged onto the field. The snap was good, and the kick sailed through the uprights for a 14-0 lead.
In the fourth quarter, she kicked another extra point to put Willamette ahead 24-0. The crowd roared again, and her teammates surrounded her, patting her helmet.