Laurier’s women’s soccer team is off to an incredible start this season, as they have yet to lose a match in five games.
One of the main reasons for the team’s remarkable success this season is first-year sniper Amanda Mithrush.
But be sure not to call the kinesiology major a phenom.
“That is too big a title,” said the humble Mithrush. “It’s a team sport and we have a great team.”
Maybe the nature of Mithrush’s humble attitude and approach to the game comes from her respect for the sport of soccer.
“I keep playing soccer because I love the sport and I work hard because I have a constant desire to improve,” said Mithrush. “I stopped playing one year to snowboard, but realized soccer was important to me.”
It’s not as if Mithrush does not have a strong background in sports either.
She spent a good deal of her youth staying active and having success in many different events.
“I played hockey for years, did gymnastics and judo, as well as cross country and of course snowboarding, but soccer was my favourite.”
Despite all her experience, Mithrush still has a burning desire to win, perhaps due to her taste of success with her rep team, the Lakehead Express.
“We won the USA Cup which was pretty cool, and now there are four of us from that team playing university soccer.”
Mithrush also had success with her Thunder Bay elite women’s team, having an undefeated season.
Add in her success with her hometown cross-country team, and it is clear that Mithrush is a winner in everything she does.
Despite her immediate success as a Golden Hawk — scoring three goals already this season as well as the team’s first goal of the year — Mithrush lists her best personal accomplishment in soccer as winning the USA Cup.
It is no doubt an admirable accomplishment as not many teams from Canada, in any sport but especially soccer, find victory when playing south of the border.
Last year was a disappointing finish for the Hawks as injuries dismantled a promising season and led to an early playoff exit.
However, Mithrush was not a member of that team and brings a youthful enthusiasm that makes this year’s team as exciting as any team of the past.
“We really mesh off each other, we are a really tight unit; I think we can have a great season,” she said.
Whether this team is bound for a championship or not, one thing is certain: it is on the team’s superstar’s mind. As Mithrush got up to leave our meeting, she said with a smile, “Big game tomorrow, it is one game at a time”.
The game that Mithrush is speaking of is against the Western Mustangs on Wednesday evening at Alumni Field.
There, the number-three nationally ranked Golden Hawks will make a bid for their sixth victory in as many games.
