The devastation of an unexpected semifinal loss to Cedar didn't last long for Juan Diego's Emily Bruder.

Not because the loss didn't bother her — oh, it bothered her greatly — but there simply wasn't time to sulk.

Bruder's got more soccer to play.

The Tribune's 3A MVP spent the week after the season in Southern California competing for a spot on the U-17 national team.

The first two weekends in November have Bruder in Colorado playing in tournaments for the Utah Avalanche club team.

"It's pretty busy," the junior forward said. "I don't think it's going to stop anytime soon. It's good, though."

Bruder, who scored 26 goals for the Soaring Eagle this season, is one of 24 players in the national team camp. The final roster of 21 players, due out in December, will compete in the U-17 World Cup in Azerbaijan next September.

"At camp, I got to play in the starting lineup," Bruder said. "At every camp, they give me something to work on. I'm excited."

It was her performance with the Soaring Eagle that earned Bruder the MVP. She already is the school's all-time leading goal scorer with 87 — a total that ranks her eighth in the all-time state list.

Juan Diego coach Simon McFall said Bruder's drive to improve and challenge herself is unmatched.

"In 3A, 4A, 5A ... I don't care about the classification, her talent and résumé clearly speak for themselves," McFall said. "Emily will always be the player looking for extra training, always looking to challenge herself and holding herself to a high standard.

"It's her intrinsic motivation that separates her."

That's bad news for the rest of the 3A field next season. Bruder said that upset loss to Cedar will serve as added motivation as she attempts to help deliver a third state title to Juan Diego.

"We want to take back what we think is ours," said Bruder, who has verbally committed to play at Stanford. "It means a lot to us as a team, and our team is just going to work twice as hard.

"We're going to treat every game as if it were our last."