Athlete Spotlight: Emily Cole

“I just want to do my job well,” Emily Cole says with a self-assured smile. As the leading scorer of Eastern Women’s Soccer, that job, of course, is to lead her team to victory. With the most level-headed confidence, Cole knows that she dominates the scoring column and yet refuses to let the statistics affect her demeanor. “I know my role on the team is to get goals and work hard on offense,” she says, “I feel that pressure each game to get that goal and get a win. That’s what’s expected and that’s what I practice and work toward. It’s a good pressure.” With a total of 10 goals in the first 7 games, Cole accounts for exactly half of her team’s total goals, so it’s safe to say she handles her job well.

Back in 2013, Cole’s first year with the Eagles, she pocketed just 4 goals the entire season—which was still enough to lead the team. In 2014, Cole finished the season with 7 goals, leading the scoring column once again. The fact that Cole is leading her team in goals in 2015 is certainly no surprise, but the way she maintains her composure and encourages her teammates is where she truly shines as a leader.

Junior forward Cole has the perfect combination of raw talent, hard work, and absolute love for the game. Cole began playing soccer at the age of 6 in her hometown of Winfield, PA. In a family like Cole’s, it was inevitable for her to inherit the “soccer genes.” With two older siblings already playing soccer, it was only natural for little Emily to follow suit. Later on, Cole’s two younger brothers would start playing as well, completing the Cole family soccer network. Cole played four years of soccer at Lewisburg Area High School where she served as team captain during her junior and senior years. As a junior, Cole was named a second team all-star for the Pennsylvania Heartland Athletic Conference; as a senior, she was dubbed a first-team all-star. While her high school accolades are certainly something to be proud of, Cole knew she wasn’t stopping there. She says that collegiate soccer had always been part of her plan, and Eastern University was the perfect fit to make that dream her reality. For Cole, Eastern provides everything she wants out of college: the opportunity to play soccer, a beautiful campus, and an academic environment that incorporates faith into learning. While being a soccer superstar is certainly a plus, Cole says her favorite part about Eastern is her classes. She is currently double majoring in Political Science and Spanish, and plans to study in Seville, Spain, in the spring of 2016. But for now, Cole still has over half a season of soccer to take on.

“Our team has been doing really well,” she reflects. “We’ve come a long way since I first started here. We’ve started playing as a team, and our work in the off-season has gotten better. We have good team unity and I’m excited for the rest of the season.”

Source: newsitem.com/sports