College Soccer: Work pays off for former ‘Cats

November 15, 2007

By Andy Sandrik, Sentinel Reporter, asandrik@cumberlink.com

Last updated: Thursday, November 15, 2007 3:03 AM EST

It was 13 years ago when Bobby Warshaw and Lauren Conner first crossed paths.

At the time, the 6-year-old Warshaw and the 7-year-old Conner were the superstars of the Mechanicsburg Recreation League and on that day, the two of them battled on the soccer field.

“At that age, they were both unstoppable,” said Conner’s father and soccer coach at the time, Chris. “We figured that the only way it would be a close game was if they guarded each other.”

According to Chris, Warshaw’s team, coached by Bobby’s father Allen, got the best of his ballclub that day.

“Allen’s team had the better of the play, but it was fun to watch the two of them go after each other,” Chris said. “It’s interesting how things turned out.”

Fast-forward to 2007, so much has happened. Both have gone through the school buses, the birthday parties, the homework and the proms of young life, culminating with their high school degrees from Mechanicsburg High School.

After all that life’s thrown at them, one thing has not changed — their passion for soccer.

Upon completion of their playing career for Wildcat boys’ and girls’ soccer coach Tony Lougee, it was time to move on.

A leap of faith

Davidson women’s soccer coach Greg Ashton called Conner’s decision to play for his team in Davidson, N.C. a “leap of faith.”

“We had never seen Lauren play before she came here,” Ashton said. “All we had were recommendations from high school and club coaches. She came only with the guarantee that she’d get the chance to work her way on the team.

“It was a big risk on her part to come to our athletics program.”

For Conner, her senior soccer season was winding down and she still had no idea where she wanted to go to college.

“Picking a college was a very hard decision for me,” Conner said. “I was looking for three things — a school with high academics, a small school and a school with a good soccer program. A lot of places had two of those three things, but none had all three.”

Then she made a college visit to Davidson.

Conner said. “It had all three things I was looking for, so that’s where I went.”

Conner made the soccer team and even got some minutes her freshman year, but she admitted that she didn’t exactly have the type of season that dreams are made of.

“I was nervous all the time,” Conner said. “I played a decent amount, but I wasn’t confident.”

But as the old adage goes, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Ashton said, “Lauren went back home to Mechanicsburg for the summer and I encouraged our team to do a summer workout and play as much as possible.

“Lauren went above and beyond for her team.”

Summer intensity

Last summer was Conner’s chance to gain an edge.

“I ran almost every day and lifted two, three times a week,” Conner said. “I also played for two different club teams.”

In the little spare time she had remaining, Conner spent it playing soccer with members of the Mechanicsburg boys’ high school team.

“The guy’s game is a different game,” Conner said. “Every practice I went to helped me get better and helped me learn what I needed.”

And by the time the 2007 soccer season rolled around, Conner was blowing people away.

“We immediately saw results,” Ashton said. “From the first day of camp, her competitive nature was standing out. There are more talented players on the team, but I don’t think they worked as hard as Lauren did.”

This season, Conner was one of just a handful of players to start every game for the Wildcats.

“I don’t think she ever took for granted that she was a starter,” Ashton said. “Not only was she starting for us, she was scoring goals.”

Make that game-winning goals.

The biggest of Conner’s four game-winners was probably the strike that broke up Appalachian State’s unbeaten season on Sept. 27. Conner’s goal in the 108th minute pushed Davidson to a 2-1 overtime victory.

“It was a great feeling,” Conner said. “It’s all a blur now. Everyone contributed to that win.”

Looking to the future

Davidson recently ended its 14-5-1 season with a 1-0 loss to Furman in the Southern Conference semifinals. But with the return of players like Conner (5 goals, 3 assists), Kyri Bye-Nagel (12 goals, 1 assist), Blakely Low (6 goals, 2 assists) and Suzanne Sittko (5 goals, 2 assists) — all sophomores — the Wildcats have a lot to look forward to next season.

“All of these girls are better than I thought they would be at this stage,” Ashton said. “I’m very fortunate to have such a great attacking group.”

“We have such a good group of forwards and such a good group of defenders,” Conner said. “We’re going to practice against each other and only get better.

“We’re going to have a strong core of players coming back. Hopefully we have a good recruiting class and hopefully we can make it to the NCAA’s next year.”

Bobby Warshaw: a down-to-earth kind of guy

Pamon Forouhar is just a normal college student living the normal college life.

So when Warshaw, a big-time athlete playing at a Division I program, moved in right across the hall from Forouhar in Stanford’s Larkin Hall, Forouhar wasn’t sure what to expect.

“I came in thinking he would be arrogant,” Forouhar said. “I definitely did not expect to find him to be as nice, smart and caring as he actually is.”

Warshaw’s good attitude earned him a lot of friends, and a lot of fans.

“Bobby has a huge entourage in the dorm,” Forouhar said. “We all like to go to his games, cheer his name and make signs for him. Bobby is one of the coolest people in the world, hands down.”

Coolness aside, Warshaw wishes he could’ve played better to give fans something more to cheer about.

“I feel bad for not playing well enough,” Warshaw said. “We should’ve won more games than we did.”

Keep in mind that Warshaw’s a freshman — a freshman that led his team in scoring with five goals and a pair of assists.

With the Cardinals sitting on a 6-6-5 record with just one game to go, Warshaw believes there is much work to be done.

“We need to find a way to be consistent in every game,” Warshaw said. “From there, we need to up our general level of play.”

Stanford coach Bret Simon said he was extremely happy with the play of his fantastic freshman this season, but agrees that the world has yet to see the best of Warshaw.

“So far, we’re thrilled,” Simon said. “Bobby sees the game very quickly, he’s skillful and he’s capable of changing the game at any moment. He not only helps our team win games, he also plays on the psyche of the opponents.”

An easy choice

“I didn’t really play the recruiting game, I’ve always wanted to come here,” Warshaw said. “I liked the coach and I liked the weather so it wasn’t really a tough decision for me.”

Warshaw followed in the footsteps of his brother, Chris, who is now a graduate student at Stanford.

“Having Chris here made the decision easier,” Warshaw said. “It’s really nice to have an aspect of home here. Chris usually comes over to the cafeteria for a weekly dinner.”

Like many freshmen, Warshaw is unsure of what he wants out of college.

“I think I want to study political science,” Warshaw said. “I might go for economics or policy-making as well — I’m just taking a lot of intro classes right now. It’s tough to plan classes when you don’t know what you want to be.”

Thirsting for improvement

While school is the top priority for Warshaw, working together with his soccer team to become better has to be a close second.

“I guess you could say the PAC-10 is a little bit different from the (Mid-Penn) Keystone Division,” Warshaw said. “In general, the athletes are more athletic and they come at you a little harder. Every game means something and every game is a battle.”

Warshaw said his team has no characters, just competitors, a formula he believes can be successful in the PAC-10.

“We don’t have any cliques or groups on this team,” Warshaw said. “We all want to win and try to make each other better.”

Warshaw buys into coach Simon’s philosophy that soccer is a team sport.

“Our emphasis is on the team, not the individual,” Simon said. “Bobby is going to be a mainstay on the team, but he will have a great cast around him as well.”

Warshaw said he is a team player, even if that means changing positions several times a season.

“We want to win and we will do whatever the coaches tell us to so that we can win,” Warshaw said. “Everyone has, at some point in the year, sacrificed for the team.”

There is one game remaining before the Cardinals send off their seniors and get ready for the 2008 fall season, which Simon hopes to be a big time for Warshaw.

“I think we’re going in a good direction,” Simon said. “Bobby has a lot of tools. I think we’re just scratching the surface of what he can accomplish.”

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