Sophomore makes point to lift Spirits

Los Angeles Daily News
Saturday, January 12, 2002

Story by Nevin Barich

Photo by Charlotte Schmid-Maybach

It was around the midway point of the season for the Paraclete High girls' soccer team.  The Spirits, amid high expectations for a program that had won 13 consecutive league titles, were off to a horrendous start at 0-8.

And Caitlin McRae was sulking. [Caitlin's comment: I never sulk.]

Now granted, it was understandable for the center halfback to be down.  The team couldn't get its offense going, league play was approaching and Paraclete's reign appeared in serious jeopardy, and McRae, for all her ability, which earned her first-team All-Alpha League honors last year, was only a sophomore.

"Caitlin got frustrated," Paraclete coach Paul Salazar said.  "She's the type of player who gets very competitive and hates to lose.  And when you lose as many in a row as we had, it made sense that she started to panic a little bit."

True.  However, McRae is not just your ordinary sophomore.  She's being groomed to be the leader and premier player of the team once fellow center halfback Stephanie Kneifl graduates this year.

Because of that, McRae decided to stop letting the losses get her down and instead decided to do something about it.  Maybe she wasn't the leader of the Spirits just yet.  But, she figured, it couldn't hurt to get vocal.

"During practices, I started trying to get the girls' morale up," McRae said.  "Instead of staying down, I decided to try to pick myself up by trying to pick some of my teammates up."

McRae's efforts became contagious as others started to do the same.  Soon, Paraclete enjoyed a team camaraderie it had been lacking all season.

The results were instantaneous.  At the Lancaster tournament last month, the Spirits, after a slow start, won three consecutive games to earn fifth place.

As for McRae?  Backed with a new positive attitude, she scored two goals in the tournament, her first offensive output of the season.

"She's really on of our better players," Kneifl said of McRae.

"I'd really like for her to pick up for me as the leader of the team once I'm gone."

McRae is aided by the fact both she and Kneifl play the same position.  That means McRae is able to get valuable instruction first-hand from the player she'll be replacing.

"I always try and learn from the best," McRae said.  "I just try and match what she does and, if I make a mistake, I try to learn from it."

Like Kneifl, McRae has been a started\r since her freshman year.  Salazar feels McRae shows more promise than Kneifl did when she was a sophomore.

"I think Caitlin has progressed a little bit faster," Salazar said.  "I mean, Caitlin started right there with Stephanie last year and may have the ability to be even better."

At various times this season, McRae has been moved from halfback to forward, where she's more of a scoring threat.

However, it's expected she'll still spend most of her time at halfback to help with the defensive chores.

"I really enjoy playing forward, but the team really needs me right now at halfback," McRae said.

"It gives me a lot more defensive responsibility.  Personally, I really like forward because I get more involved with the offense and I enjoy scoring."

Salazar expects there might be more times down the line when McRae starts to feel the pressure from the team's play and the high expectations of her.

But he's confident McRae will handle it better and better each time out.

"When the going gets tough and some of the players start hanging their heads, Caitlin's head hangs right along with them," Salazar said. "But she'll grow out of that as she gets more experience."

Send to Caitlin