Pence credits coaches for her success
10/1/2010 11:38:00 AM | Soccer
Don't tell her how important she is, though. Pence's unpretentious demeanor will only allow her to smile, as she bashfully rolls her eyes.
Pence holds almost every school record at goalkeeper, including fewest goals allowed, goalkeeper victories, consecutive scoreless minutes as well as career shutouts.
But according to Pence, the program's turnaround and her improvement as a player is due to the proactive coaching staff and their ability to communicate the team's concerns.
When Pence arrived to Sam Houston in 2007, she found herself learning from her own mistakes, because no one else was there to correct them. She says her biggest hurdle as a player was going through that year with a mentality that she wasn't going to get any help if she messed up.
Then, head coach Tom Brown and assistant coach Chris "Topper" Cogan took over the Bearkats and steered them towards success, especially Pence.
Under the leadership of Cogan, Pence has been able to focus on the little things, like diving forward on saves and taking smaller steps in her technique.
"He's one of the best coaches I've ever worked with," Pence said. "It's like before you even get scored on or before you make a mistake, he's there to help you."
Guidance played a major role in Pence's development well before she put on a Bearkat uniform. Her mom believes Pence started playing soccer in the third grade, but she believes it's been longer than that. She was always the chubby girl who was put at goal and the position sort of stuck with her, Pence says.
In high school, Pence's club trainer inspired her to realize her potential on the field. She brought her along with tough love and made her more confident as a goalkeeper.
"She coached me from ninth to 12th grade," Pence said. "It was kind of expected that I was suppose to be (tough), and for everyone she coached it was supposed to be that way."
Pence is coveted for her academia just as much as her performance on the field. She is a two-time Academic All-Southland Conference goalkeeper and has been an honor student since high school. She also intends to further her education when she's done playing soccer, to pursue a career as an orthopedic doctor.
Pence's motivated attitude is easy to identify when she talks about the Bearkats' nemeses. Since she's been at Sam Houston, she has never won against the two teams that she dislikes the most, Stephen F. Austin and Texas State. With this being her last year, Pence doesn't want to leave any unfinished business.
"Those (games) are towards the end of the season this year. So, hopefully we can put something good together against them," she said.
Pence and the Bearkats will kick off Southland Conference play tonight when they take on Central Arkansas in Conway, Ark.
