Friends On and Off the Field
October 18, 2006 | Women's Soccer
It's true to say all the players on the Wisconsin women's soccer team are friends ' on and off the field. But that statement is especially evident with two in particular: senior assistant captains Natalie Horner and Allison Preiss.
'They are such close friends and have really bonded together well,' Dean Duerst, Wisconsin head coach, said.
Horner, who hails from Minnesota, and Preiss, a St. Louis native, met each other on a recruiting visit to the University of Wisconsin. Later they began their careers as freshmen newcomers to the women's soccer program. The two became fast friends when they discovered they lived down the hall from each other in the same dorm.
'We became friends because we didn't have any other friends,' Preiss remembers.
They had soccer to bond them.
Both had successful rookie campaigns, with each earning her way into Duerst's starting lineup.
'On the field, Natalie just brings toughness,' Duerst stated. 'She is a hard-hitting kind of player. It is a good quality to have. She has been very consistent in her play.
'Allison is one of those players who is a difference-maker. She gets points and gets assists and makes dangerous runs.'
After their sophomore season, Preiss and Horner wanted to continue to gain some quality soccer experience and thought they would give the prestigious W-League a try. Sort of like throwing a dart to a map of the United States, the duo picked and place and headed west. They made the roster for the Arizona Heatwave.
'We wanted to go somewhere cool and neither of us wanted to go alone,' Preiss said. 'We sort of just chose Arizona and went there.'
Perhaps the highlight of their careers at Wisconsin ' at least so far ' has been the 2005 Big Ten Tournament title.
'I think last year for us, being in Michigan and winning the Big Ten tournament was a very cool thing for us to experience,' Horner said. 'We were struggling last year and it was a really cool way to end the season. That is one thing I will always remember.'
The summer of 2006 led the duo back to Horner's home state of Minnesota. Horner received word from her former club coach that there was word of a W-League team forming in Minneapolis. Horner quickly jumped at the offer and put in a good word for her friend and teammate. Horner and Preiss had another successful season in the W-League and again gained some quality experience.
'We lived at my house all summer and had a really good time,' Horner recalled.
'It was really fun for me,' Preiss said. 'Her mom and I bonded.'
Through their ups and downs on and off the soccer field, the thing that will be remembered most is their life-long friendship with each other, and all the teammates over the years.
'The overall experience and the people you meet playing soccer is one-of-a-kind,' Horner stated. 'All of my best friends here are on the team. That is the one thing you'll take away from it ' the strong interaction you get with these girls over a year, or two, or the full four years. The on the field things are important, but it's also the off-the-field things like living together, road trips, plane rides and that kind of thing that you will remember the most. '
'I am going to miss the competition and my teammates the most,' Preiss said. 'The friends I've made will last a lifetime. But I am going to miss the competition the most. I am going to miss practicing and playing. The whole college thing, it's just so fun.''
Though the last four years have been spent together, it appears the two might go their separate ways once their careers are complete.
Preiss is scheduled to graduate after the summer semester with a degree in legal studies. She hopes to carry on a family tradition and attend law school in the near future.
'I don't really know what I want to do with my life,' Preiss stated, 'but I think I am going to apply to law school. I think I would make a good lawyer. It runs in the family. My grandpa was a lawyer and my great-grandpa was a judge.'
Horner, meanwhile, will earn her degree and journalism and communications in December 2007. She aspires to one day have a career in the public relations field.
'I would love to do it with some sort of sports organization,' Horner said of her future goals. 'That would be ideal but I don't know. I want to explore my options, maybe get out of Madison, get out of the Midwest, go somewhere new and do some things I haven't done yet.'
