Closure, growth, symmetry: NGI serves different purposes for chasers Denver, Lipscomb

Credit Shannon O’Brien for keeping her Lipscomb squad’s eyes on the future. That will continue for the Bison until Sunday’s final round of the season – O’Brien’s last at the helm. Symmetry is everywhere in this program, especially for O’Brien personally.

As her husband, Kevin O’Brien, took over as the head women’s soccer coach at Mississippi State this semester, Shannon grappled with her own timeline on the coaching staff at Lipscomb in Nashville, Tennessee. Ultimately, this weekend’s Women's National Golf Invitational at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa, Arizona, will be her last with the team. O’Brien, a Phoenix native, is closing a chapter of her life in the same place it began.

She learned the game growing up here and her parents are still in the area. O’Brien played college soccer at the University of Arizona, has coached soccer collegiately (including alongside her husband at Lipscomb) and only took over the Bison women’s golf team five years ago. It turned out to be one of the most fulfilling experiences of her career.

In the team huddle, Lipscomb chants a phrase that has been the theme of its season: All in, all out. O’Brien encouraged her players to go all in to be all out, and it shows up in every way that O’Brien talks about a squad with big heart, enduring respect for their coach and the maturity to keep the big picture in view even as the details around them change. O’Brien tried to live her own message this season, too.