Smiles shot across Erica Walsh's face as she spoke in her office Tuesday.

Five days earlier, the U.S. women's soccer team won Olympic gold, and she was a part of it as an assistant coach.

Now, she is back in America hoping to lead the Penn State women's soccer team to similar results after working with the national team since December.

"We were all really excited for her," Penn State assistant coach Ann Cook said of her initial reaction to Walsh's appointment. "It was such a great opportunity for her. And it looks good for the program in general to have her involved in such a high level."

Walsh had trouble dividing her time between the two programs at first, finding it unfair to both the teams and herself to not fully commit to one.

But she knew she could trust her coaching staff and players at Penn State and decided it would be OK to "jump in with both feet" with the national team.

"I kind of made the promise to the Penn State players and to myself that I'm going to see this through," Walsh said. "I'm going to see this through the Olympics, and then the day it ended, it's done. Find that closure, then it's time to get back to these guys."

With Walsh pursuing her Olympic dream, Cook said Penn State still had a great spring, and the players were very accepting of the commitment Walsh had to the Olympic squad.

Most of the players even moved back to State College in early July to start preseason training on their own. Cook said the Nittany Lions had the smoothest preseason she had ever been associated with and that the team's unity is at an all-time high.

"It was a little difficult trying to plan around her not being there," senior defender Jessie Davis said. "But our team really bonded over the fact that we didn't have our head coach there. So I think it worked out well."

While the Lions practiced at home, Walsh spent her time constantly traveling with the national team and watching tape with coaches.

Having to go to four different sites for matches did not allow time to attend non-soccer Olympic events, but one of her usual free time activities did draw attention -- jogging.

With security tight, guards trailed her while she jogged through the streets, even prompting a blog entry about the situation on USSoccer.com.

On the field, Walsh and the U.S. squad got past an opening-game loss to Norway and rattled off three consecutive wins to advance to the gold medal match against Brazil last Thursday.

Walsh did not get to be on the sidelines for the game, as the coaches rotated their position each time.

Instead, she had a view from higher up in the bleachers when U.S. midfielder Carli Lloyd netted the game's lone goal in the sixth minute of extra time.

Goalie Hope Solo then fended off a barrage of Brazil shots in the final minutes to secure the gold medal and Walsh joined the team to celebrate on the field.

"I came back home and I watched it on Sunday night," Walsh said. "I was even more nervous watching it the second time because I realized how close [Brazil] came to goal three or four times. There's so much emotion involved during the match that you get wrapped up in it and you can't really see the game for what it's worth."

The Penn State squad gathered together in its team room to watch their coach's games. Sophomore forward Danielle Toney said one of the most exciting parts of watching was waiting for the cameras to pan the sidelines in hopes of catching a glimpse of their coach -- when she was on the sidelines, at least.

They broke down tape of the matches and looked forward to Walsh sharing her experiences from her time with the national team.

"It's being able to relate to players that they had up on their walls when they were kids and being able to talk about some of the hardships that some of those players experience," Walsh said. "I think that inside look at the way the women's national team works is valuable to know for these players, to know that they go through the same struggles that we go through."

The task of splitting time between teams is over for Walsh. After winning gold, she arrived back at the airport in Beijing feeling a sense of closure and will not continue on with the U.S. national team.

Instead, the focus is on guiding the players that she brought together at Penn State as a recruiter to the success that she promised them.

"It's a different experience when you're there as an assistant," she said. "To win a national championship as a head coach, I would say it would be on par with [the Olympic experience].

"It's a different feeling. These are my players. I promised their parents I'd give them a good experience. And ultimately, you're responsible for their well-being."