Redshirt junior aims to provide offense for Xavier and mentor underclassmen
Photo courtesy of goxavier.com | Redshirt junior forward Samantha Dewey is one of the veteran leaders of the Xavier women’s soccer team. She hopes to be a mentor to the underclassmen in their adjustment to college life on and off the pitch.
When the women’s soccer team is in need of a clutch performer, the Musketeers often have to look no further than redshirt junior forward Samantha Dewey.
Through 11 matches this year, Dewey already has three game-winning goals, two of which have come in the span of her last four matches.
“My coaches and teammates have done a lot to make me look better than I am,” Dewey said. “My coaches take the time to sit and evaluate what I can do better to put myself in good positions to score. The rest really comes down to how great my teammates are at putting me in spots that allow me to be successful.”
With these years of collegiate experience already under her belt, Dewey is able to provide a unique perspective to this year’s squad. For a second straight season, she was named to the preseason All-Big East Team.
She was a unanimous selection to the Big East All-Freshman Team after her first season and was named to the All-Big East Second Team after her sophomore campaign.
However, after only five matches in 2017, Dewey suffered a season-ending injury and was forced to use a medical redshirt.
Those two-plus seasons of experience are paying off as she guides her teammates through this season.
“Being an upperclassman actually makes things easier for me,” she said. “I feel I am able to focus more on helping the underclassmen become accustomed to the pressures of being a student-athlete rather than putting so much weight on specific games or plays within games. Experience has played a tremendous part in maturing within my sport.”
Prior to Sunday’s loss against Creighton in their conference opener, the Musketeers had shut out five straight opponents en route to five straight wins, their longest streak since 2003.
Entering the match, Dewey was sixth in the league with four goals and is a large part of why this team has gotten off to such a hot start.
“I am extremely excited about the potential this team has,” Dewey said. “We are young and have a ton of talent. People are going to continue to get better the more we play together and (the)more confidence they gain.”
This group is undefeated at home so far this season, and they’re hoping that trend can continue as conference play begins to take shape.
Dewey knows they can’t let up and take their foot off the gas because they want to keep the ball rolling in the same direction.
“I feel that my responsibility is to bring an intensity to training and games that allows us to play with an edge,” Dewey said, “also just to remind people that we play because we love it.”
By: Paul Fritschner | Staff Writer