Saying Goodbye: Our Fantastic Senior Class

This week we begin to say goodbye to our wonderful class of seniors: Karlye Smith, Caroline Olsen, Heather Goff, and Valerie Belanger, as well as our senior lead trainer, Angela Gewerth.  This was a group of seniors that brought a spark of life and competitiveness to the squad for all four years of their time in the program. It's difficult to think about the program without these girls driving everybody forward with their veteran skill and their strong leadership and knowledge of the game.  Before they cross the white line between player and fan, we would like to take a moment to commemorate their accomplishments and contributions to the team during their time with the Gustavus Women's Soccer Program.

Caroline Olson #1: GK of York, Pennsylvania.  Caroline has been such a positive force on the team during her time here, constantly pushing herself to be the best she can be.  She does whatever there is to be pushing herself to improve, as well as to push those around her to perform to their best ability as well.  Caroline can always be seen with a smile on her face, as she has such a shining passion for the sport. Absolutely nothing can keep her down.  First player to the fields and the last one to leave, she always finds ways to give more and more to the team.  She is truly a fantastic player to have on our squad, and will be greatly missed from the team moving forward.  Caroline is an athletic training major who has played in 28 games throughout her career and totaled 139 saves.

Valerie Belanger #10: Midfielder of Zimmerman, Minnesota.  Val is single handedly the most positive force on this team.  She repeatedly is able to come to practice and display a genuine enjoyment of not only the game of soccer, but of those around her on the team, as well.  Through the ups and downs over the years, Val has been such a constant through her work ethic and her positive personality; Val is the epitome of the player any team would want on their roster.  Regardless of the situation, she brings a force about her that causes everything around her to simply "flow". Val will be hugely missed, although we feel she's left a presence that will still be on the field for years to come. Valerie is a psychological science and nursing double major who has played in 32 career games.

Heather Goff #12: Midfielder of Eagan, Minnesota.  Heather has been been many things over her four years with the Gustavus Soccer Team, all of which are the ideal attributes in any great soccer player: competitive, consistent, reliable, and eager to continue moving the team forward.  As one of our more skilled players over the past four years, Heather continues to strive to improve and learn more about the game, helping to create a standard and a culture of development and progression in a program.  Heather has been instrumental in the team's success over her time here, and always with a right smile on her face.  Heather is a biology major and four-year starter who has started 52 career games and totaled five assists.

Karlye Smith #14: Defender of Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  It is tough to think of a few words to describe Karlye, because when thinking about what defines a great center back, she embodies them all.  She is a brute force in the back line that nobody would want to find themselves in a tackle against, as Karlye is easily the toughest and most determined player on the field at any minute.  A physical and fierce competitor, yet positive and supportive teammate, it is made obvious quickly that anybody would much rather be playing by her side than coming up against her. Her leadership has been vital in our team's development, as she is not only open to always continue learning herself, but also helping those around her to quickly step into important defensive roles on our team through her example as well as helping to teach these positions to anyone who has had to step up into defensive roles around her.  It's scary to think of a back line without Karlye in it, almost as scary as thinking about playing against a back line of all defenders like Karlye!  It was a true pleasure to be able to have had her in the Gustavus program over the past four years. She really will be missed. Karlye is an athletic training major and four-year starter who has started 59 career games.

Angela Gewerth: Senior Athletic Trainer.  Angela as acted almost as a momma hen for the team, always keeping a close eye on everybody doing whatever she can to make sure everybody stays healthy and is recovering from any injuries as quickly as possible.  Angela was a perfect fit for our team, as she immediately was able to jump right in and become best friends with about everybody on the field, which is exactly what a team looks for in their athletic trainer. We always knew that at any time if something was going on with a player, Angela would be quick on her toes to sniff out any injury and begin working with our head trainer on plans to get them back to 100%.  Her close bonds with the girls on the team meant there was a fantastic flow of communication between our players and the trainers as they all felt close to her and trusted that her number one priority was their speedy and healthy return back to them playing at their full potential, as she honestly had as much as an emotional connection to the team and it's success as anybody.  Trainers as special as Angela don't come along very often, and we're incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to work with her this year, and are excited to follow her success in the future.

A very special group of Seniors. We're going to miss them very much.