NCC Spotlight: Soccer's Amy Frazzini

The women's soccer team has one more chance.

Ahead of the Cardinals is the regular-season finale at North Park on Saturday and the final chance to snag a victory in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin this year.

After losing on senior night to Augustana on Wednesday at Benedetti-Werhli Stadium, the Cardinals fell to 7-8-1 overall and 0-5-1 in the CCIW.

If it were all about wins and losses, it might seem things were worse than they really may be for the Cardinals. One of their senior leaders, goalkeeper Amy Frazzini, took time out of her busy student-athlete schedule to give us an inside look at her and the team.

So what do you actually call your position? Goalkeeper, keeper, keep, goalie or something else? And why? I would say that my position is a goalkeeper and then goalie for short ... as a goalkeeper you prevent/keep goals from happening so that that other team cannot score and your team has a chance of winning.

Which of your teammates would you like to get a good laugh out of seeing play goalkeeper for just one game and why? I would love to see a lot of people in the goalie position, such as Emily Page who is the shortest on our team, and let me tell you we have had practices where we have thrown a few field players in goal and I am definitely laughing the entire time. But the person that I would most love to see in goal would be Erin Martin, aka Marty.

Marty is our outside defender (sometimes outside mid), so while she definitely knows the game, defensively, goalie would be quite the transition. She is always optimistic and is probably the kindest person on our team, so No. 1 she would definitely not be able to yell at people in certain situations when the goalie needs to demand specific things from my defense/team in general. While (she) is an amazing athlete that many people, myself included, look up to, I do not feel she would have the diving skills/coordination/"hops" to be a goalie. With that, she is an English and theatre major and I feel that she would love being very dramatic with her dives and just laughing while failing miserably, which we have seen a few times in goal; however, she is good at defending the post for me in goal, while she tries to head the ball out, which we have done drills with at practice.

What's the hardest task for a goalie that's usually made to look easy? And describe a misadventure or two in trying to learn it. The hardest task for me in goal, which is usually perceived as being easy, would have to be balls that are kicked really hard but remain on the ground (because) it is very easy to bobble them when trying to scoop it up towards your chest, especially if there are people from the other team ready in case you bobble it.

Also, sometimes if that same type of shot is just either to my left or right it is a hard judgement call to dive or take a few shuffle steps because if you dive, it is right on the ground and, it sounds weird, but you have a chance to dive over it, since on the ground, but if your shuffle steps aren't fast enough then it might slip right by you.

A couple misadventures would have to be during practice. While I don't like to admit this every goalie has done this in a game or practice at least a couple times. When you get these types of shots ripped at you, you are in a ready stance with your legs about shoulder width, if not a little more apart; thus there is a chance the ball could slip through your hands and go between your legs, which is so embarrassing and, thankfully, has never happened in a game, but practice, unfortunately, yes. Also, with those it is best to, as you go, to scoop it up ... and dive forward with it in your arms, then there is no chance of anyone getting the rebound because if you bobble it you are going to be falling on it a second later.

With that, one time when I was learning that there were definitely a few times when I scooped it up and dove forward onto the ball, the ball slipped a little past my hands and my stomach ended up falling on the ball instead of it being wrapped in my hands and tucked under my chin, which hurt. However, my favorite things, but I think are the most difficult, are breakaways, but when I remain confident and don't overanalyze the situation I usually have my timing on just right and am there for the breakaway save and so while it is not good, I do love getting breakaways because I can now stay so calm. Those are the most rewarding saves, as well as high shots which have to be tipped over the crossbar and you almost dive backwards, in a sense, and low corner shots where you dive and just tip wide, those are all my favorite.

Is there any lightheartedness or inside jokes on the team about getting at least one conference win this year, or is it a soar point? While we have struggled this year with getting a conference win, we try to learn from previous games and are optimistic towards the future.

If you notice the results of all the CCIW games (women's soccer) you will notice any team can beat any team on any day. You have Elmhurst beating Wheaton, but then you have Wheaton who beat Carthage (3-0), but then Elmhurst lost to Carthage. We lost to Elmhurst 1-0 and then tied Carthage 1-1. We only lost to Wheaton 1-3 (one goal was a PK) ... Which goes to show how close and competitive our conference is as a whole.

While it is frustrating that we do not have a conference win yet, we have been right there with every team, losing every CCIW game by only one goal. We are just having trouble capitalizing on our opportunities. We are a very strong and talented team and are definitely comparable to every team in our conference, especially this year. It has been a frustrating season for our whole team, but I believe we have learned a lot about each other and what we need to do in order to find the back of the net, which can be found from every position on the team. There is not a doubt in my mind that next year will be their year and they will put teams away in a fashionable style.

With one game left in the regular season, what's on the minds of the players and coaches besides that conference win? What is on the minds of our team, this point in the season, is to stay strong and continue to prove what we are capable of producing. While our goal of making it to the conference tournament is out of reach, we can still mess with the system and prove to the team/our conference that we have what it takes, it is never too late.

We are going to try to continue to grow and find a way to win (Saturday vs. North Park) and end the season on a high note so that next year we as a team are strong coming out at the start of the season. We can still prove a point to other teams and we are not just going to throw in the towel just because we have one game left. We are going to make the most out of the next week or so while we play with this team for one last time as a whole.

While many of us are frustrated with the outcome of the season, we still have a chance to prove to ourselves that we are right there in this conference for next year, by posting a win. While playing to win is our No. 1 goal as a team, we have been trying to keep everything in perspective and reminding ourselves why we play this game that we love so much and what keeps us coming back is how much fun we have putting in all that hard work. We continue to play like we have "swagger" and we keep the thought in the back of our head—RTL—which means "Refuse to Lose." We are going to continue to stay composed and play OUR game.

As a senior on a veteran team, what's the end of your college career mean to you and also your teammates who are in the same boat? Having this be the end of my college soccer career, it is hard to sum up my feelings into words. First off, I feel I speak for not only for myself but all the seniors as well. While we have not gotten the overall results we wanted over the past four years, we have developed relationships that are priceless and that I will have forever. We have posted some amazing accomplishments over the last four years and have felt we have really helped shape this program; and it has been great to see it grew, along with seeing how much closer we have come to our fellow CCIW teams for level of competition.

Last year we played Augustana who was ranked top 10, maybe even top five in the nation at the time, and we posted a 1-1 tie in 2OT. While a win would've been great, it was so exciting seeing how much we grew from the year before against Augustana—we clicked as a whole team and it was probably one of the most rewording games individually and as a team because that night was truly an all-around team effort.

As seniors we only hope this program keeps narrowing the margin between the teams each year. The end of this season means a lot to me that I cannot even really put into words, but I am going to miss everything about it, such as the team, the coaches, getting that nervous/exciting feeling before games and everything else that is a part of it. It has been the journey of a lifetime and I would not trade my experience for anything.

While it's exciting to see how much we have all grown on a personal level and athletic level, it is still sad to see it end, but we realize we are now more prepared than ever to handle what path we take on next. We are all extremely sad to leave, but it is only because we have grown together as a family; however, we are even more anxious for another group of incoming first-year players, next year, to be able to experience what we got to experience over their next four years, as well to pass our knowledge/experience on to the next class of seniors who I know hold this team close to their hearts and will push this team to their maximum potential; therefore, this time of year is very bitter sweet.