|
sports
Aguilar making
her own kind of history
By Phil Witte
On-line Forty-Niner
After she graduates
from Long Beach State, Sarah Aguilar plans to pursue a career
teaching high school history. With her performances on the
field, she has already left her mark on the history of women's
soccer at LBSU.
For Aguilar, the decision to come to Long Beach was an easy
one.
"I made two recruiting trips, here and the Naval Academy,"
the Temecula native said. "Long Beach is a nice city
and all of the girls were cool and it just felt right when
I came on my trip."
Aguilar has been playing soccer since she was eight-years-old
and continued through high school, where she also ran track.
"I love [soccer]. It's always been fun for me and I love
being part of a team," she said.
On the field, Aguilar has roamed the Beach midfield with authority
for three years, starting 12 games as a freshman in 1999 and
all18 games last year as a sophomore. She has appeared in
all 11 games this year, starting eight and tallying one goal.
"We moved Sarah to outside midfielder because we needed
someone with speed who could play defense on that side,"
said 49er Head Coach Peter Reynaud. "She is very versatile
so we can move her into the middle late in the game."
Her first career goal for The Beach was memorable for Aguilar,
but for more than the obvious reason.
"I went up for a header and connected for the goal, but
I knocked heads with the defender and got clobbered,"
she said. "I had a grade three concussion and half of
my face swelled up. I was out for six weeks and I even had
some teachers ask me to go home because I was making people
uncomfortable."
The junior's four career goals leave her tied for fifth on
the all-time list with current teammates Marisa Barragan and
Amber Glende and her 10 points place sixth all-time with the
same pair.
In her three years at LBSU, Aguilar has played under both
Reynaud and Julie Cochran, and she sees differences between
the two.
"I played for Julie for two years and she was a good
coach; she built this program up from nothing," she said.
"I liked playing for Julie and I was bummed when she
left, but I don't think she was going to take us to the next
level.
"With Peter, it's business first, then fun. The staff
he brought in has us focused on our goals and the steps we
have to take to accomplish them."
Reynaud has seen a difference in Aguilar's play this season.
"She's a hard-working player and she has improved tremendously
this season," the first year coach said. "She's
a good listener and she's very dedicated. She seems to just
get better as the game goes on."
If given the choice, Aguilar would prefer to play in the central
midfield, where she could have more of an impact on the game.
"I like trying to create offense and coming back to help
out the defense," she said.
Away from the soccer field, Aguilar prefers to spend time
with her friends and family.
"She is the funniest person alive," said Sarah Gamet,
her teammate and roommate of three years and once-a-week sushi
partner. "She is a hard worker and brings character to
the team, but she also brings laughs and unites the team."
When not hanging out with her three teammates/roommates (including
Becky Ricci and Kelli Barrett), she spends time with her parents
and her one-and-a-half year old nephew Michael Gilbert, of
whom she is "completely fascinated."
With her career goals of teaching history already mapped out,
Aguilar hopes to spend the semester following the end of next
season studying in Europe.
"I just want to be happy and end up with two good knees,"
she said.
|
|
Mike
Haubrich/On-line Forty-Niner
Junior midfielder Sarah Aguilar (8) in action
in a recent game against the University of San Diego. The
history major has been a consistent force in the 49er midfield
for all of her three seasons at The Beach.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Search our site
DEPARTMENT
OF
JOURNALISM
ONLINE 49ER
DEPARTMENTS
ADVERTISING
ADMINISTRATION
DAILY
49ER ALUMNI
SUBSCRIPTION
SERVICE
GIVE
FEEDBACK
|
