The Daily Campus

Issue date: 9/25/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Ryan Sayers Erin Clark has been a big part of the Huskies' success.

It's one thing to have success in athletics at the college level by being one of the key players on a team. It's another thing to be able to do that while playing for the same team you grew up cheering for. It takes a really special player to do that as a freshman. That's the case for Somers native and freshman forward Erin Clark, who has already begun to turn heads with her play for the women's soccer team this season.

Clark didn't have to wait long before making a huge impact for the Huskies. In the season opener, Clark was able to end a Princeton streak of 476:14 minutes without allowing a goal, providing the difference-maker in the 1-0 UConn win.

"In the beginning of the year we had kind of like a rough start, and I remember getting angry that this is UConn, this is a team that I've been watching since I was little that was so good, and thought 'We really need to pick this up,'" Clark said. "So I kind of got angry on the sidelines, and when coach put me in I was all ready to go and I took advantage of that one little opportunity I had from Lizzy [Eng], who played me a very nice ball. I just remember shooting it and it worked out."

By the sixth game of the season against Brown, she was promoted to the starting lineup, having already scored the game-winning goal in two matches.

It was a move by head coach Len Tsantiris that surprised her.

"It was definitely exciting," Clark said. "I worked really hard at practice, and coach always says that whoever plays like they want to start in practice are the ones that he's going to start. So that's just my plan, to play hard in practice and get the start."

Clark is tied for second on the team with eight points with three goals (all game-winners) and two assists. The three game-winning goals leave her tied for first in the Big East in that category.

When talking about the season so far, Clark didn't hesitate in crediting her teammates for easing her transition into playing at the college level.

Whether it was playing alongside current Huskies who play for the New England Mutiny in the Women's Premier Soccer League, spending time bonding at teammates' apartments over the summer, or seeing another side of Tsantiris at a preseason team dinner at a Greek restaurant in Maryland, Clark feels as though she has already become extremely close with everyone on the team.

Continued...

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