(Photo by Nha Ha)
Mustang Daily Staff Report
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When Elise Krieghoff was told she had mononucleosis (mono), her doctor recommended she stay in bed and recover from the fatigue and relentless nausea.
But sick or not, the team always comes first for the freshman women’s soccer player. Instead of getting the rest she needed, the forward streaked down the field, scoring goals for the team she loves. For her, the decision between resting and competing on the soccer field was a no-brainer.
“I was so sick, but I just kept playing,” Krieghoff said. “Mono takes a really long time to get out of your system. I don’t think I was ever really 100 percent during fall, though. It’s more of a mental game because I can do it physically. I just have to push myself.”
After recording a team-high 11 goals on the season, Krieghoff led the Mustangs to a 9-7-3 overall record with the team finishing with a loss to Cal State Northridge in the semifinal round of the Big West tournament.
And after more than 20 years at the helm of the Cal Poly women’s soccer squad, never before had head coach Alex Crozier seen so many players plagued with injuries and illnesses.
“This was an odd year,” Crozier said. “It was probably 10 years worth of injuries in one season.”
The loss of their freshman talent, Breanna Rittmann, made a substantial difference in the Mustangs’ game plan, but she wasn’t the only one to force alterations to the lineup. Along with Rittmann, two other players tore their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) this past fall.
While Rittmann is still yet to be cleared to play, Crozier and the team look forward to a healthy beginning this coming season.
But even after such an injury-plagued season, the team is preparing for their fall schedule, and they are training as hard as ever.
“My teammates and I have been talking about (the new season), and we’re so excited to see what next year is going to bring for us,” Krieghoff said. “This winter and this spring, we’ve been doing so much offseason work. I think it’s one of the first times in the program’s history that they’ve done so much in the offseason.”
Even Crozier, who has led the team since its inception in 1992, has rarely seen a team so eager to begin playing again.
“On the field, they’re working hard and they’re all extremely enthusiastic,” Crozier said. “They still want more at the end of spring. That’s rare because at the end of spring, usually the team is ready for a break, but they’re still hungry for more.”
And now, with the soccer team’s sight is set on the beginning of the 2013 season, Krieghoff and the rest of the team have set goals for themselves.
“We have so much potential to win Big West,” Krieghoff said. “Going into next season, we just have a really good attitude.”
Especially after an incredibly productive spring, the players have a different mindset going into the summer than they did even during regular season competition.
“This spring, it felt like whoever was in the starting lineup would get the job done,” Krieghoff said. “It didn’t matter who was in (the game). That was a first for me.”
Commencing in the fall, Cal Poly will challenge one of the most difficult schedules the Mustangs have ever seen. The team will embark on a three-week road trip, playing schools such as teams that ended the year ranked No. 14 Texas A&M, No. 11 Baylor and No. 18 Santa Clara.
“I think the whole group has done a great job,” Crozier said. “There’s really no one player who is going to be ‘the’ player for us. It’ll be fun to watch. It’ll be difficult for us to really come up with our starting 11 because we have a lot of good players.”
But for a coach whose team was crippled by injuries the previous season, that’s a good problem to have.
Jefferson P. Nolan contributed to this staff report.