“PUSH HER TO THE OUTSIDE!!”
“MAN ON, BUCK!!”
“I WANT THRRREEEE!!”
“I GO!!”
“GET BACK ERIN!!”
“LET IT RIDE!!”

If you’ve been to a Dayton Flyers womens soccer game in the last two seasons, you already know where this story is headed. Those six phrases are as well-known at Baujan Field as the mystery meat hamburgers or autographed mini soccer balls that get tossed into the terrace stands before every game. This revelation came to me a couple weeks ago when one of the players – I think it was junior Bridget Bushman but I’ll never be sure – cold-cocked me in the forehead with a breaking ball even Nolan Ryan would be proud of. The recoil off my noggin’ sent the mini soccer ball somewhere out on Kiefaber, and I’m sure kids went running down the Ghetto after it like a home run at Wrigley Field that clears the fence and caroms down the street.

It was a blessing however because ever since that time I can see like a hawk and hear like a bat. And one of the things I’ve noticed with all this sensory overload is that big things sometimes come in small packages.

For those of you who’ve been dunking your head in quicksand over the last two years, Flyer goalkeeper Stephanie Weisenfeld is the Spud Webb of womens soccer. Not many coaches would take the shortest player on the team, stick her in goal, and expect anything close to greatness. For Head Coach Mike Tucker however, it’s been the easiest decision he’s had to make in two seasons. Weisenfeld started the season opener in 1999 as a true freshman by beating out senior Damian Gold for the job — and she hasn’t looked back since. In two years, she’s already good enough to call the best ever at Dayton, and is on the verge of rewriting every goalkeeping record the school cares to keep track of.

We heard the HS rumors when she signed with Dayton over Wisconsin and others, but HS press clippings don’t mean a thing in college and Flyer fans had to find out the only way we could – by watching and waiting. It didn’t take long to realize everything we heard was true.

Weisenfeld, 5-3 with ponytail, makes up for her small size with speed, quickness, and positioning. She’s always on her line, can cover the back post with a leaping tip over the bar, and catches anything from watermelons to hand grenades. Soccer balls too. There’s never a muff or a fumble. Never a cheap goal. Never a worry. Ever. The stats say so.

Through 19 games this season, Weisenfeld’s GAA (goals-against average) is 0.77, on pace to break the single-season record of 0.80 set by Amy Kemmer in 1997. While accurate goalkeeping records weren’t kept prior to 1991, it wouldn’t make a difference if they were. Weisenfeld’s career GAA of 0.99 is also tops in the program’s history, well ahead of Julie Ciasnocha’s 1.15 career GAA (1991-94). Need more? Her 16.5 shutouts through two yet-to-be completed seasons is second all-time to Ciasnocha’s 19.5 shutouts. Sure, Weisenfeld has been tending the nets behind a solid core of defenders such as Wes Oxley and this year’s Ministry of Defense freshmen trio, but tough saves never go away completely and she’s diverted more than her share of otherwise certain goals into amazing grabs, deflections, tips, or kick saves. Against top competition, Suggs Weisenfeld has single-handedly kept the Flyers in the game – against Xavier last year in the A-10 Tournament title game and this year against #5 Clemson. Dayton beat the Muskies and had a chance to up-end Clemson before falling 2-1 on a goal in the 90th minute.

What’s all of this have to do with the introduction of this story? I’m not sure. What I do know is when Weisenfeld screams those phrases during every Flyer game, it’s like asking Mighty Mouse to scream for cheese, straight into the universe so everyone can hear. She struggles so her voice will carry, so it will fill Baujan Field and resonate off the bricks and mortar of the Engineering Building, St. Joseph’s Hall, and the PAC. Her vocal chords grind it out like sandpaper on a vinyl record, but everyone gets the message. The fans. The players. The coaches. Her mother and father. Whether it be directing traffic or asking for a 3-man wall, nobody fails to listen.

Weisenfeld however has gotten lost in the shuffle, at least to the casual fans who only know two things about the womens soccer program: they play on grass and somebody on the team is named Missy Gregg. Look a little harder though and there are other gems to be found. Kara Kenney’s footwork, Beth McHugh’s speed, or Megan McKnight’s free kicks are each a team-best. So too is Weisenfeld’s ability to turn the skeptics into true believers. What makes her story compelling is the staunch irony inside it. Whatever fans have heard about Missy Gregg, the opposite applies to the Flyer goalkeeper. Gregg is tall, Suggs is short. Gregg has streak blonde hair, Weisenfeld has dark hair. Gregg scores goals while Weisenfeld prevents them. Gregg uses her feet while Weisenfeld uses her hands. And when they both decide to give the ball a boot, Gregg is a southpaw while Suggs is a righty. Even their game jerseys are different.

While the polarities are immediate, a little-known fact might tie all of this together. Goalkeepers are a secret society and every last one of them has a burning desire to be a forward – if only for a minute – and score a goal for the team. On the other hand, there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that forwards have any inclination whatsoever to stand in goal and get pelted with soccer balls, so maybe it all means nothing more than an equal desire by goalkeepers and goal scorers alike to be the one player everyone remembers. Playing defense is a thankless job in the soccer world and though every victory is a team victory, only the humblest survive a ‘career in the rear’.

To the contrary however, college goalkeepers aren’t the chuberoos we’re used to seeing in those Fruit Roll-Up commercials. In fact, many of them are among the best-conditioned athletes on the team. But most goalies aren’t 5-3 either. For Weisenfeld however, her size – or lack of it — has been her advantage. She’s quicker to low balls, moves better from side to side, and has enough oomph in the legs to cover the top post easily. And most of all, she anticipates. Being in the right place at the right time has never been an accident.

And for many fans this year, it’s been no accident that they’ve come to Baujan Field to see more than just Missy Gregg. Whether you call her Suggs, or Spud, or just Stephanie, she’s the one standing in goal with the mitts on her hands, waiting for an excuse to go airborne and break the heart of a opposing goal scorer. The only uncertainty in Weisenfeld’s game is her breaking ball into the Baujan Field terrace, but it’s safe to say that — like soccer balls — she won’t let it past her.