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Karras Aims To Lead Mavs Next Season.

by The Impact on Thursday, March 3, 2011 at 5:41pm ·
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January 2011

By Kevin Lewis

Jackie Karras fell in love with soccer at an early age. At three years old, she picked up a soccer ball and never put it down.

“My dad got me into it and I just never stopped. He coached me when I was younger and I fell in love with the game, and have played it ever since.”

Karras, making the adjustment to college soccer was a standout for the team, as she was tied for the team lead in goals with four. Karras was also named the ECC Rookie Of the Week for the week of October 10-17. Mercy went 3-0 that week, and extended their winning streak to four games. Karras scored three of her four season goals during that week, all of them coming in a win over Bloomfield on Oct. 14. Despite the adjustments, Karras made her impact felt on the field, nearly helping lead the team to a playoff berth.

Karras stated that the biggest difference from high school soccer to college soccer is the speed of play.

“Everything happens so much quicker, and you have to adjust in order to keep up. I had to play a lot quicker mentally, and had to make adjustments to the other girls on the team as I got acclimated to them,” said Karras. “ I had to know where I was going with my next pass before I even got the ball. It’s tough to do, but it’s really important in college soccer to get the desired results.”

Karras is proud of the way she held her own this season in her initial season on the team. She played well and she was the team’s most productive goal scorer.

“I had a great season this year. It was difficult in the beginning because everyone was new and you had to figure out how to play with each other,” said Karras.

“ Things eventually clicked and everything fell into place. The team was getting along and we started seeing results. Overall, I think the season was a success for the Mercy soccer program.”

Karras also preaches unselfishness and being a team player first. She is all about the team winning.

“I always try to do what is best for the team when I play, by making what I think is the right pass,” said Karras. “I’m not the kind of person that will try to score a goal when I have a slim chance if one of my team mates has an open shot. I just want what is best for the team. An assist is just as good as a goal in my eyes.”

While she thought she played well this season she does acknowledge that there is room for improvement as she continues to make adjustments.

“Personally, I need to gain muscle mass in order to hold my own on the field,” said Karras. “Sometime I would get pushed around, so I want to get stronger so that won’t happen next season.”

Team chemistry is vital to a team’s success, and getting as close to the playoffs as the team did may have done wonders in that regard. Winning and team chemistry in some ways are mutually exclusive.

“Everyone on this team gets along and some great friendships

were formed,” said Karras. “I honestly believe this team is going to great next season and my goal for next season is to help this team make the conference tournament as we came so close this season to accomplishing that.”

Ultimately Karras thinks she, as well as the team, accomplished a lot this season and hopes to accomplish even more next season. She likes the makeup of the team, and thinks the sky is the limit for this group.

“This team has a great deal of potential in the coming years. We have so much talent that has yet to come to the surface and we couldn’t ask for a better coaching staff as each and every one of them would do anything to help us succed,” said Karras.

“No one is graduating next year, so we are coming back with a full team and some new freshmen that can bring so much to the table. I love everything about this team going forward.”

The women’s soccer team finished 7-9, missing the playoffs by a game.