FRANCISCOVICH DISCUSSES HER THE WINS RECORD, HER CAREER AND HER FUTURE

With a newly acquired career win record and just one game remaining in her career, Amy Franciscovich sat down with A.J. Gochenaur to discuss her career. Here are some of the highlights.

On decision to come back:
Well, I saw that the program had a lot of potential with the new coach coming in, last year’s freshman class was great, and it just worked out. Being a collegiate athlete is a very special experience, and I wanted to make the most of it. I actually have a fulltime job too that I’m doing. So I was able to do research and play soccer, so everything just fell into place. The program is going in the right direction, and I wanted to stay a part of it.

On the season-ending injury of classmate Lauren Hudak, who attempted to come back for a fifth year before going down in the second day of practice:
It was shocking. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be for her, and I guess it’s just hard to come to terms with that after we debated this for a long time over the phone, “Are we really coming back as fifth-year seniors?” because it’s not very often that that happens in Division III. I think that it was definitely something that we had to deal with, but we moved on as a team, and she’s moved on as a person. But definitely I was disappointed because she’s a fantastic player, person and teammate, and it was sad not to have her with us this season.

On the record:
Ironically enough, I really wasn’t following the record at all in my own mind. I really was unaware of the existence of such a record and my proximity to it. But it feels good because it’s a record that’s established over an amount of time. It means consistent performance to me. It’s something that now I can look back on and be like, “Hey, you know what. Each year we put in a good effort and had a good, strong season.” It’s not really my record; it’s a team record, because I could have a whole bunch of ties if nobody puts the ball in the back of the net on the other side of the field. It’s a team game, so I’m just glad to have had strong defenses in front of me for four years.

On the realizing what the record means:
It’s really interesting because as a freshman you come in and you’re just a deer in the headlights, and you don’t really understand the grandeur of what can happen over a four-year career. But it’s pretty neat; my dad was looking back at it and said, “You know 48 wins, Amy, that means 12 wins each year.” That’s a pretty good percentage. I guess I don’t ever come into soccer expecting to lose a match, and when we win that means we did the right job. But I guess I’ve never been a statistician. It’s pretty neat though to be able to have that in my background.

On her biggest win:
Any win in the UAA is huge because you just know that those teams are such high caliber teams; it just feels really good. Also, beating Sewanee because it’s a big rival school, and a lot of the teammates have friends or rivals that play. I think one that my freshman year was as a big one was Rochester. We beat them 1-0. That game was built up a lot because the previous year it was the lost to Rochester or tie to Rochester that had inhibited their [the previous season’s team] making the playoffs. So it’s just a history of all these games that were really big. Winning a game in the playoffs last year felt really great too. Beating Chicago this year really was great because that was the first time we’d beaten Chicago since I’d been here, so that really felt good. We say Wash U is our big rival; any team in the UAA is a rival because each game is so important.

On the injury that ended her 2004 season 37 seconds into the first game:
I came into the season knowing I was injured, and I rehabbed and tried to play through the injury, and had the brace and everything. So I knew that I wanted to try to salvage the season. It was just really disappointing and frustrating when...they said I was done. At the same time I knew that I had two years of eligibility left. I needed to work on getting myself healthy to come back strong for the team. I was so proud of them though; we won the conference that year.

Thoughts of a fifth-year after the injury:
I didn’t really know at the time. You never know how things are going to change, what opportunities are going to come up your senior year. There’s all sorts of graduate opportunities and things, but everything just kind of fell into place.

Toughest time, other than the injury:
I think this year has been a very good example of a tough time. We’ve been up and down. We’ve had some great wins, and we’ve had some very heartbreaking losses. Losing to Wash U. on the road was tough, because that was the first time I’d lost to Wash U. and that kind of score is painful. It just really makes you sit back and look and say, “What happened?” But then you have to move on from that because you know that that was the first game of the conference, and you have to play the whole season out.

On protecting a late lead:
Basically it’s just, I engage myself in keeping my defense organized. Making sure that I’m communicating with my defense, making sure that they’re composed is going to, in the end, make my job a lot easier. When it’s crunch time, you’ve got to be consistent and make sure you don’t give anything silly up, but also you might be expected to come up with a big save towards the end and know that you’ve got to go for it.

On what makes her good:
I think it’s my passion for the game and my commitment to the sport. I train hard, but it’s because I love it. I watch my little sisters playing the game, and I see that passion that you have, and you can’t lose that because if you lose that it’s not worth playing. Right now I’m looking at the last game of a career. I’m 21-years old; I’ve been playing since I was five. Looking at that I realize that I still have that spark, and you need to hold on to that every game and realize why you’re playing. You’re playing for yourself. You’re playing for you teammates. You’re just playing because you love the game. And winning is more fun than losing, don’t get me wrong. I love the thrill of the competition, but really I think that just holding on to that, that passion, is what makes anyone a good athlete in whatever sport you choose.

On her young age:
Amy was only 17 for the length of her freshman year, and leaves after her fifth year the same age as most of the juniors.
I never think of myself as an age. So, I guess that’s just something that I’ve kind of been blessed with a sense of maturity to handle that, but it is funny thinking that sometimes I’d think, “Oh, I’m 17 and some of these people are 22, 23 years old.” But the fact is that on the soccer pitch the playing field is level. But I respected my teammates, and I knew that their experiences had taught them a great deal that I hadn’t learned yet. But also knowing that I had my piece to donate too, and that’s why I was a member of the team.

On choosing Emory over Division I:
Emory is really the whole package. When I visited I fell in love with the university. The student body seemed really excited about being here. I met some professors that were just fantastic. Dr. Weinshank, as a pre-frosh I sat in his class and was just captivated the entire time. That and the soccer pitch is beautiful. Emory has a unique schedule being the UAA conference because you just get to travel a lot as a Division III program. In hindsight, it’s really interesting that I can answer this question. I don’t know really why I chose Emory, but I’m really glad that I did. I could become a whole person here where I could have my academics. Division I is a great thing to do, but being an intercollegiate athlete at any level is a fantastic experience. I knew I probably wouldn’t be a professional soccer player, so I wanted to make sure I was a whole person. The commitment is a little different in that you don’t have the freedom to pursue these other interests in Division I, and Emory really offered me the whole experience.

On what's next:
I don’t know. I’m looking at a lot of different options. I’m still really up in the air. Something in a health-related field probably, whether it’s research or medicine, I’m not sure yet, or public health, something along those lines. Maybe a soccer coach. Definitely some kind of soccer coach in the future. I will definitely be coaching for youth organizations in my future, staying involved. I don’t know. We’ll see where the wind takes me.

Franciscovich finished her career with exactly 48 wins, besting the previous Emory record by one. Her career record of 48-17-6 gives her a career win percentage of .718. Her 32 career shutouts with an amazing 11 more than the next best in Emory history.