Junior leading women's soccer team with experience

October 10, 2005 —

Talented youth always needs to be sprinkled with a little gifted veteran leadership. The 2005 women's soccer team is no exception.

With a roster filled with youth and exuberance, upperclassmen need to step up and lead by example. This is exactly what junior Kelly Pruitt has been doing all year, leading the young cavalry into battle on the soccer field.

Pruitt capped off an impressive week two weeks ago by being named the GLIAC Player of the Week after she torched Mercyhurst's defense for two goals in a Sept. 24 GLIAC contest. The two goals gave Pruitt three for the season with high expectations for the remainder of the schedule.

When asked how she felt about winning the award, Pruitt immediately turned the spotlight onto the soccer program and outlined the strides that it has made in the past couple of years.

"Being named GLIAC Player of the Week has been a huge honor for me," she said. "It just goes to show how the soccer program is moving in the right direction. A couple of years ago we did not have the best record. We went without winning a single GLIAC game."

Oh, how the times have changed. The Pruitt-led Lady Cardinals are 2-0 in the GLIAC and looking poised to explode into the heart of the GLIAC schedule. Once thought of as the weak point on the team, the youth look like crafty veterans not fazed by the tough GLIAC conference.

"She is an example," says head coach Drago Dumbovic. "She knows how to lead the freshmen. She knows what direction to take this team."

Pruitt is quick to give her coach some credit as well. She says that the team would not be where they are today if not for Dumbovic.

"Having Coach Drago named as our coach was the best thing to ever happen to this program," she says. "He has helped build this program into something people want to be a part of."

Still, however, there are difficulties to having such a young team, as Pruitt points out. There is still the learning curve that must be talked about when making the transition from high school soccer into college soccer.

"The challenging part of having a young team is that they lack the experience," she says. "The college game is much different than the high school game. The game is much faster, more physical, and more skilled."

Where there is a negative, there must be a positive. Pruitt explains that the plus side of having such a young team is that everyone is anxious to learn. The young players are like sponges soaking up every bit of advice that Dumbovic can give them about their individual game.

"The advantages of having such a young team is that everything that Coach Drago is teaching us will remain with us forever," she says. "His advice will help build a better and stronger team over the years to come."

With a tough schedule approaching, Pruitt and the rest of the Cardinals look to keep up the winning tradition and bring home a GLIAC championship.

Pruitt needs to lead and shine in the big upcoming games so she can, as Dumbovic puts it, leave her legacy behind.

"We have become very close as a team this season and that will only make us stronger down the stretch," she says. "Through all the pain, tears, tough wins, times when we wanted to give up, we are all there for one another. We have one common goal and I know that we all support each other."