Freshman star settling into life as a Seahawk
Matthew Harris | Staff Writer
Issue date: 10/28/09 Section: Sports
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Rose, the 2009 North Carolina Soccer Coach's Association Player-of-the-Year, is the type of player that is always smiling and laughing off the field. On it, however, Rose takes care of business. The list of accolades for Rose, prior to joining the Seahawk soccer family, is quite lengthy.
Rose guided her high school team, White Oak, in Jacksonville, N.C. to four straight 3A state championships where she was named championship MVP twice. She was a three-time All-State and All-Region selection, a member of the 2008 U-17 national championship team, and was mentioned in Sports Illustrated.
But if you ask Rose, it's not about her. Soccer is a team sport. "I'm proud of my accomplishments, but I came in as an average freshman," she said. "I didn't come in thinking I was some superstar. I didn't even expect to start, honestly."
Rose has come in and worked hard this season in an attempt to make a fresh start for herself. "I wanted to earn my playing time and earn the respect of my teammates by working hard, not based on my success in high school," she said.
So far, Rose has proven herself as a hard working and determined freshman forward. It was evident in early September against VMI. The UNCW women's soccer team was on a six-game road trip that almost spanned an entire month, when Rose scored the lone goal to give the team its second win of the season.
"I was excited to have scored my first goal," she said. "It felt like a weight had been lifted because once you score that first goal, it becomes somewhat easier to score more."
But that doesn't mean Rose came in expecting to pick up right where she left off in high school. "My personal goal for this season was to come in and help the team as best I could. I told myself if I scored one goal then that would be awesome," she said.
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