KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County. Tod also covers professional, collegiate and high school sports for KSHB 41. He keeps tabs on players, coaches and administrators through their careers, including the players featured in the story below. He also does stories about sports history in the city. Share your story idea with Tod.
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The NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Final Four represents a special homecoming for TCU senior defender Grace Coppinger and freshman forward Grace Vest.
Coppinger, a St. Teresa’s Academy graduate, and Vest, a Raymore-Peculiar graduate, helped the Horned Frogs reach the Women’s College Cup semifinals, which take place Friday evening at CPKC Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Current.
“Coming to school in July, and even last December when last season was over, the goal was to get to Kansas City,” Coppinger said.
It’s something she openly talked about with Vest after she joined the TCU program and arrived in Fort Worth last summer.
“Once I found out it (the NCAA College Cup) was in Kansas City, I marked it on my calendar and was like, ‘This is where we’re going to be,’” Vest, who scored two goals with four assists this season, said. “It motivated me all throughout the season. ... Just experiencing that now — honestly, it’s a dream come true.”
The Horned Frogs, who won the Big 12 Women’s Soccer Tournament last year in Kansas City, suffered a shocking early exit in this season’s Big 12 tourney.
But the two-time reigning Big 12 regular-season champs got on a roll in the NCAA tournament, beating perennial power North Carolina on penalty kicks and toppling top-seeded Vanderbilt en route to a regional crown.
That punched the coveted ticket to Kansas City.
“For me, it sunk in yesterday (Wednesday) when we landed and I was like, ‘We’re in the Final Four in Kansas City. I’m back home; this is amazing,’” Vest said. “I couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Coppinger played in the last year’s conference tournament at CPKC Stadium, but the stakes are raised this time around.
“The first actual stadium built for women, and we get to play in it and compete for a national title,” Coppinger said. “That’s something that I’ve been hoping to be able to say.”
Meanwhile, the semifinal against the Seminoles will be Vest’s first game at the first stadium purpose-built for a women’s sports team.
“It’s super special to be like the first women’s stadium in the United States,” she said. “... It’s such a special experience for everyone in Kansas City. I love it.”
Now, the Graces hope the hometown fans show TCU a little hometown love.
“I have so many tickets to hand out,” Vest said. “Everybody’s coming. I’m super excited.”
When I asked Coppinger if it would be hard to sleep Thursday night, knowing what awaited a day later, she laughed, “Yeah, definitely excited. There’s a lot of excitement, a lot of excitement.”
TCU-Florida State kicks off at 5 p.m. on Friday, while the second semifinal — pitting Duke against Stanford — kicks off around 7:45 p.m.
The semifinals winners will clash for the NCAA championship at 6 p.m. on Monday at CPKC Stadium.
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