Women’s soccer led by senior captains, ready to win
September 14, 2015
Team captains are an essential component of any successful sports team, serv- ing as a role model and leader for their teammates.
The Linfield varsity soccer team is lucky enough to have three senior girls who embody this both on and off the field.
Captains Marisa Specht, Emma Vukic, and Regan Cox are entering their fourth year on the team with four wins under their belt. All three girls use their authority to promote communication, respect, and dedication, and each use their individual strengths to contribute to the team and its success.
“Vuk is the hardest worker I’ve ever had the privilege of playing with, she already has this really rare combination of natural athleticism and speed, unreal skills on the ball, and a deadly shot, yet she pushes herself and the team to better themselves every day at practice,” sophomore Colette Sims said about captain Emma Vukic.
Soccer was a major decid- ing factor on Vukic’s choice to attend Linfield. She first heard about it when recruited by ex head coach Dominic Doty at a showcase her senior year of high school.
Vukic attributes some of her natural talent and intuition to her long family history with soccer, tracing back to her grandparents in Europe.
Vukic has been pursuing a math major here at Linfield, and has recognized that her position as captain on the team has enhanced her lead- ership skills off the soccer field as well.
Although she started off as a shy freshman, Vukic now feels comfortable and confident both with her own abilities and her teams. “I use the advice, good and bad, that I’ve received from previous coaches and mentors to improve not only my skills and knowledge, but the rest of the team’s as well,” Vukic said.
“Regan is an outstanding player and is a great leader both on and off the field,” Vukic said.
“As a freshman on the team I felt very welcomed by her and as a goalkeeper I feel confident with her playing in front of me in the center back position,” freshman Elisa Randall said about captain Regan Cox.
Having received a significant injury her senior year of high school, Cox was not recruited, but was a walk on at the beginning of the season her freshman year.
Despite the rough start, she describes the overall Linfield soccer experience as positive and a constant source of self- improvement.
An elementary education major, skills such as communication and leadership will have long lasting benefits after this final soccer season is over.
As far as the balance between school and soccer over the past three years, Cox says that time management has been key.
This being the end of Cox’s soccer career, there is extra motivation and pressure to do well.
“I think we have high hopes for conference this year. Our team is young, but what they lack in experience they make up for in talent,” Cox said.
“Marisa was one of the first people to welcome me as an incoming freshman.”
She is an excellent player and leads by example,” sophomore Kyla Alvarenga said about captain Marisa Specht.
A starter as a freshman, Specht sustained an ankle injury that kept her out for half the season.
Although the lasting injury still bothers her, Specht’s love for the game has motivated her to persevere through the pain.
She recalls feeling comforted by the welcoming, friendly captains and upperclassmen her freshman year, and aims to model the same environment for the incoming freshman this year.
An environmental science major, Specht shows dedication to both soccer and her education by managing a tight schedule, which she encourages underclassmen on the team to aim for as well.
She describes the new team dynamic as being “fresh and determined.”
Since so many of the players from past years have graduated, there is added competition to fill missing spots, which Specht sees as a positive component to this year’s potential.
Specht voices a lot of confidence in the success of the team in conference this year.
“If it has to be any year, it’s going to be this year,” she said.