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The Tulsa Trio
October 19, 2016 | Soccer
It all started about 15 years ago.
Three little girls from the Tulsa, Okla., area stepped on the soccer pitch with the same academy team, eventually spending the majority of their childhood and teenage years playing and learning the sport together and developing close, lifelong friendships.
Fast forward to today and this trio of Oklahoma seniors: Liz Keester, Shiloh Price and Madison Saliba, are nearing the end of their careers in the Crimson and Cream. They've been through so much together over the years, experiencing the ups and downs of life, the joys of wins and high school graduations and the sorrow of one of them losing a parent.
One took a divergent path before making her way to Norman, but now, Keester, Price and Saliba are finally reunited and ending their careers the only way that seems fit after all they have shared in life – together.
INSTANT CONNECTION
From the time Keester, Price and Saliba met in academy soccer around 7 years old, they immediately bonded and felt connected to each other.
“It's funny to look back on now because we were such babies, honestly,” Saliba shares. “Around age 7 is when it was, the academy days is what we called it. It's fun to look back on, and we definitely started that connection from an early age.”
“I think as a team, we definitely had cliques, and we were a clique,” Price continues. “We had an instant connection. The jokes on the field would carry on off the field.”
Their friendships extended off the pitch, with the girls picking out prom dresses together, playing mini golf or going to the movies on weekends which they did not have soccer games. Their relationships quickly became about everyday life, not just the sport they all loved.
“Liz and Shiloh are just two of my absolute best friends,” Saliba says. “I really think of them as sisters. When you grow up with something, you know everything about each other, you know your families, so it definitely goes way beyond the field.”
"I think in life you meet friends that you are overwhelmed with blessings with. I feel like with us three, we are more than a blessing to each other. We were placed together for a reason."
Shiloh Price
For a few years while they were growing up, Keester played on a different club team that was in fact a fierce rival to the one Price and Saliba were a part of, but the three eventually ended up on the talented TSC Hurricane '95 squad that won state and regional titles and finished as the national runner-up twice.
The sometimes-rivals aspect carried into the high school realm, as Price and Saliba played at Broken Arrow High School in Broken Arrow, Okla., and Keester attended Jenks High School in Tulsa.
“Even then they were still really close friends and it was a weird dynamic because they were going at each other in the high school soccer games on Friday night and then on Saturday they'd have games for their club team where they were on the same team,” says Keester's dad, Mike. “They really had to learn how to leave it on the field.”
As Keester, Price and Saliba developed their close friendships through soccer, so did their parents, Mike and Sue Keester, Ronald and Lisa Price and Darren and Becky Saliba.
“I think it carried over a huge amount (relationships on and off the field). Our families are all really good friends. I think they loved going on tournaments as much as we did, just getting to spend the entire weekend with your best friends,” Keester says.
The families got to know each other on road trips all over the country – from Phoenix to Kansas City to North Carolina – and Sue says they are grateful to have a soccer family with which they shared the journey.
“It's been an amazing trip watching them grow from really small little girls that were so athletic into very talented, athletic young women,” Sue shares. “They've learned so much on and off the field. They've learned lessons about life through soccer and shared so many successes, happiness and they've also helped each other through a lot of tough times. We have a lot of great memories of these three girls and their families together. We did team dinners, we hung out in hotel lobbies and pools and we always talked about the kids, the games, recruiting and how to parent teenagers. We all got pretty close watching all the girls grow up together.”
These friendships have gone way beyond the sport of soccer and into other aspects of life, not just the good times but also some difficult experiences, including the loss of Saliba's mom, Becky, to breast cancer in 2014. Saliba recalls the constant support she felt from Keester and Price during that hard time in her life.
“That's part of the good, the bad, the ugly,” Saliba shares. “That's kind of the part of the ugly for me, or bad, or whatever. You need people to lean on during those times, and I absolutely, the entire time, them and their families were there for me. (If) my mom got a good report, they were some of the first people I would tell, and they would celebrate with me and be happy. There were days that I needed to cry after everything went down or needed to just tell a story about my mom, they were two people that allowed me to do that and understand when I wasn't exactly myself and help me find my way through that. So, it's something special.”
According to Keester, she knows she can count on her lifelong friends and now roommates for anything that she needs, and she wants to do the same for them.
“I can count on them for anything, even if it's just coming home from a tough day, had a bad test or whatever,” Keester says. “I come home and they're right there to offer advice or even a hug or to go out for dinner or ice cream or honestly whatever I need, I know I can count on them for it … I would honestly do anything for them. They've had my back in so many situations. I'd have their back through anything.”
For Price, she believes that these three are friends for a reason and knows that what they share is something that should not be taken for granted.
“I think in life you meet friends that you are overwhelmed with blessings with,” Price states. “I feel like with us three, we are more than a blessing to each other. We were placed together for a reason. I think with all of our strengths and weaknesses and situations and battles we face, I feel like we can overcome anything, and we can take what our friendship brings and bring it to do something bigger on the field but also live every day like other people may not be able to because we have good friends.”
REUNITED
For the first two years of college, the friends were playing for different programs, with Price and Saliba becoming Sooners while Keester decided to attend Texas A&M. During this time, Keester shares she missed her teammates and friends she was so accustomed to playing the sport they had a mutual love for.
“There were a lot of Friday nights after games, like, 'Hey, how'd you guys do?' I feel like even as a whole club team from Tulsa, we all kind of checked in on each other,” Keester explains. “Over breaks, we'd all get together and see each other and spend time together and do our winter workouts or summer workouts together. I think it was always there, even when we were away.”
Eventually, Keester chose to follow in the footsteps of all her family members – dad, mom, two sisters and brother – and make the move to Norman and attend OU before the 2015 season. She had stayed in close contact with Price and Saliba while she was at Texas A&M, so once she made the decision to transfer, the two were among the first people she texted to let them know she was going to be a Sooner.
Keester was already comfortable at OU having grown up a fan of the program thanks to the deep Sooner roots in her family, but having friends in Price and Saliba added to her comfort level and made the transition smooth as they had her back and showed her the ropes when she first arrived.
“Right from the start, I think it was meant to be,” Keester says. “I texted them about where they were living, like, 'Hey, I need someone to live with, like, what's your plan?' They both needed a roommate, so it just worked out, honestly, really perfectly.”
When Price and Saliba learned of Keester's decision to transfer, both were excited to have their former teammate on their side once again.
“I felt like she belonged here in the first place,” Price says. “I was so happy for her to go to Texas A&M, but I knew OU would really, really benefit from her. When she called us and texted us about her transferring, I was so excited for her to come and join us here and improve our program and move us to levels that we've never been before.”
“I missed Liz a lot, but I was obviously happy for her when she made the decision (to go to Texas A&M),” Saliba echoes. “It was weird because always kind of hoped she would go to OU with us, too, because her family's all big on OU and stuff. We definitely tried to stay in contact and definitely didn't ever lose touch, and when we would see her on breaks or something, we'd pick right back up where we left off. You know a friendship is real when you can do that.
“That sense of familiarity with one of your best friends, that's exciting,” Saliba continues. “I remember it worked out perfectly, it really did, because me and Shiloh have lived together since freshman year, but it somehow worked out we didn't have a third roommate that year, so it worked out pretty perfectly.”
That familiarity carried over onto the field as well, as all three say they immediately picked up where they left off despite being apart for two years. And even though it has been nearly two full seasons since the trio has been teammates once again, they still talk about how fun it is to be reunited.
"After games, it's like, 'Man, I love being out there with you, still,' and it's been a couple years again now. It's definitely really fun because of that connection.”
Madison Saliba
“I think anybody that plays team sports would agree that chemistry on the field is such a real thing, and it really helps because you know you can pass there, move there,” Saliba says. “I'll be making a move and going down the line to cross the ball, and Shiloh and Liz are already on their way to finish it. Knowing what somebody will do next really does help on the field. After games, it's like, 'Man, I love being out there with you, still,' and it's been a couple years again now. It's definitely really fun because of that connection.”
When OU head coach Matt Potter moved to Norman to take over at the helm of the program, he knew nothing about the state or the quality of soccer being played at all levels in it. However, that changed as people like Keester, Price and Saliba quickly left a positive impression on him.
“Quite frankly, because of those three, I have such a wonderful impression of the potential of the state, the potential of soccer, the potential of the environments that they come from,” Potter explains. “They speak for the people that they've been surrounded by. Oklahomans are wonderfully warm, and they reflect that. Their character is exemplary, and on top of that, they offer special gifts that they follow through with, all three of them in their own unique ways, yet together, they're a force.”
Potter shares that Keester, Price and Saliba, along with this entire senior class, have played a key role in helping to continue to move the program in the direction they want it to go.
“We're definitely a lot closer (to where we want to be) than when we started. They've played an integral part in that. This whole senior class is an irreplaceable class,” Potter says. “We often talk about people don't replace people, they just have an opportunity to live into what those people have left for them. They're going to leave this place in a better place than they found it, that's for sure, both on the field and, more importantly, off the field. As much as I could compliment what they've done in soccer, what they're doing academically, they're much better people. They're going to make a mark on the world once they leave here.”
FULL CIRCLE
While this trio still has a lot it wants to accomplish with its Sooner teammates, Friday marks the end of their regular season careers at John Crain Field. They will be recognized, along with fellow seniors Jemma Cota, Caren Nelson, Rachel Ressler and Kassidie Stade, prior to the match against Kansas.
The three have made their presence known on the field this season, combining for 13 goals – Keester with a team-high seven scores and Price and Saliba both notching career-best totals of three – 11 assists and 37 points.
Reflecting upon their journey together, Keester, Price and Saliba all say that they would not adjust a single aspect along the way. In fact, Keester gets goosebumps thinking about everything they have experienced together and the fact that they have the opportunity to close out their soccer careers in the same place.
“We've been through so much together, all those trips we traveled, hours spent together, great wins, tough losses,” Keester explains. “We've been through everything together, and I just can't believe, looking back, it happened so fast. I can't believe it's going to be our last everything with each other on the field. It's just insane.
“I honestly wouldn't change a thing,” Keester continues. “There are moments where you're like, 'Well, lost that game, and that kind of sucked,' but I wouldn't change a thing. I'm so happy to be back there with them and being able to finish out my career with my best friends. That's so cool to me because a lot of people don't get to play college with people they played with growing up.”
Senior Night brings everything full circle for this trio and creates an opportunity for reflection, Price says.
“It makes you think back in retrospect, and for the future that when something comes along, don't try and change things, don't try and skip over it,” Price explains. “Just embrace it and remember why it was brought to you and think back to the good times. Remember that every day you have good friends and you have people that want to play the game with you, and they want the best for you and you want the best for them. It's really special to be in a situation where you only are feeling love from your friends.”
Friends that first met back in the academy days, a friendship forged by a common love of soccer that has only grown over time and through so many experiences. Friends that will be there for each other for a lifetime.
Players Mentioned
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