Sue St. Louis

Play a little game around Soldiers Field sometime. Word association. The trigger words are "Harvard women's soccer." And the response? Well, it's a pretty good bet that nine out of ten people answer with "Sue St. Louis." Maybe even ten out of ten.

After all, she holds just about all the records there are to hold--including most goals in a game, season and career. She's been All-Ivy three times, she's started every varsity game that Harvard women's soccer has ever played, and she's co-captain of this year's squad.

Visible

She's also one of the most visible players out on the field, whether she's taking an opposing fullback one-on-one or letting loose a shot that can be more accurately described as a blast.

The amazing Sue St. Louis had never played a minute of a soccer game before she arrived at Harvard. As a matter of fact, she had never even touched a soccer ball until the summer before her freshman year.

"My brother Mike (Sue has six brothers, all athletes, and a sister) had played intramural soccer at Harvard the year before and needed someone to play with," the Leverett House senior says. "So he pressured me into it and dragged me outside. And once I started playing I really liked it."

Sibling Rivalry

Sue and her brother played one-on-one soccer, to which Sue now credits her ability to go in on the defense alone, but which left her restricted in overall soccer skills when she arrived at Harvard.

"My individual skills were pretty good when I got here, but I had no notion of playing on a team," she says. "I was hoping when I got to school that I could maybe make the J.V."

That year was of course the year that Harvard women's soccer emerged from club status to the full varsity level, but it still came as a pleasant surprise to Sue when she made the varsity. She was even in the starting line-up for the first game of the season. At halfback.

"I played the whole first half in the midfield," the Groton, Conn., native says. "Then in the second half I moved to center forward and I've been there ever since." And how.

Sue went on to score 19 goals that year from the center forward spot including the team's first seven goals of its 9-2-1 season. Not bad for the first time out with the women's varsity team.

The center forward spot in those days was tailored to the skills of St. Louis--the midfielders shot the ball up over the opposing team's fullbacks and Sue raced them to the ball, hoping to get off a good shot on net. As a result, Sue only had one assist during her freshman year.

Guilt

"I used to feel really guilty that I got 19 goals and only one assist. But that was one of the best things about this team. Everyone was so friendly and close. There was no resentment."

Then came sophomore year, the year of Sue St. Louis. She knocked in 20 goals and added six assists to lead the team to a sparkling 13-1 record and the first-ever Ivy League championship. In addition, Sue was named to the All-Ivy team and received player-of-the-week honors from Soccer America magazine, the first woman to be so recognized.

Last year her output tailed off to 14 goals, but the team enjoyed its finest season ever, with a 15-1-1 record, an Ivy League title, and a share of the first-ever Eastern Championship with Cortland State.

Going into this afternoon's opening round of the first-ever national intercollegiate women's soccer tournament against Northern Colorado, Sue St. Louis has scored a total of 12 goals this season and added 5 assists to lead her team in scoring.

But what happened to the Sue St. Louis of the 19 and 20 goal years? Well, she hasn't changed--it's the players around her who have.

"Now we've got four or five people who are just as capable of scoring as I am, which makes us better as a team because we are harder to shut down.

"I still take a lot of shots and go for goals. I still like to score. I haven't lost that urge to be in the spotlight. I guess I'm still a prime donna. But this team's come a long way in four years and I've changed with it."

And now the Crimson is in Colorado for the nationals. "It seems too good to be true. To be a little selfish, it's the perfect finale--there isn't anything better than this to cap my college career. And to think of it from the team's point of view, it's such a great honor."

What's it been like having four years of Sue St. Louis? Crimson coach Bob Scalise knows how lucky he has been.

Super, Great

"It's been just great. Super. She's a tremendous natural athlete--you don't score all those goals without being really really super. I'm certain we're going to miss her next year."

Sue St. Louis will end her competitive athletic career with the national tournament and next week's game with Yale, rather than play lacrosse or run track as she has done in previous years.

"I feel like . . . I feel like this tournament and the end of my college career is going to be such a fitting close; I don't want to be hanging on to past successes." The Latin American History major, who has never had a full semester here away from sports, will become what she terms a "normal student."

"I'm just going to take my books out and sit on the Charles and watch the crew boats go by. I'll get to see Boston, the Fogg, the Museum of Fine Arts down-town. I've never had time for any of this."

One thing's for sure--the time Sue St. Louis spent playing soccer for Harvard was time definitely well spent.