There's No I in Team
October 26, 2006 | Women's Soccer
There's no 'I' in 'team,' but there is an 'I' in 'Shiz.' Wisconsin senior goalkeeper Stefani Szczechowski ' or 'Shiz' as she is known to her coaches, teammates and basically anyone who can't pronounce her last name ' truly personifies what it means to be a team player.
Szczechowski came into the women's soccer program and immediately started as a freshman. In 2003, her rookie season, Szczechowski helped the Badgers to an upset win over top-seeded Penn State in the Big Ten tournament. The match, played on Wisconsin's home field, went through a scoreless double overtime and to a shootout. Szczechowski 's save on a Penn State shot in the fourth round proved to be the deciding factor in one of the largest upsets in program history.
The next year, Wisconsin head coach Dean Duerst signed another goalkeeper, Lynn Murray. Murray, like Szczechowski, earned the starting keeper job as a freshman. Szczechowski was bumped to second string, a position in which she has served in more or less for the last three seasons.
But then again, maybe 'served' isn't the right term. Maybe it would be more appropriate to say she has flourished there.
Szczechowski, never down, never rattled, took her new role in stride. She continued to give 100 percent in practice. She still continues to do that in the final week of the regular season of her senior year.
In the spring before the 2006 campaign, Szczechowski, a native of Plymouth, Mich., was named a team co-captain, along with fellow senior Kara Kabellis.
'She is such a positive life force,' Duerst said of Szczechowski. 'She is always so upbeat and sending notes on the team to keep them focused. She is always thinking of the biggest thing, which is the team first. Shiz really is just that ideal role model of a teammate. She is always trying to push those around her. '
Szczechowski got some early experience playing goalkeeper. As a youngster, she would always be forced to stand in the net while playing soccer with her older brother, Nick.
'I always wanted to tag along with him and his friends,' Szczechowski said. 'I was a tomboy. We always played sports in the street: soccer, football, basketball and hockey. When we played soccer, they would make me go play in the goal. I would be stuck there while he and his friends shot the ball at me. The garage door would be down, so if they scored it would make this huge noise. So I think I got some of my toughness from my brother and his friends.'
It wouldn't be long before Szczechowksi stopped playing the goalkeeper position against her will. After making her first club traveling team at the age of nine, Szczechowski concentrated her time on learning all there was to learn about being a goalie.
'I love the thrill of stopping a shot,' Szczechowksi said of playing in the net. 'It's a natural high.'
An early example of Szczechowksi's hard-working attitude came in high school. During the spring of her sophomore year, Szczechowksi fractured her tibia and was forced to sit out ' just before prime recruiting season. She worked and rehabilitated to get back to 100 percent before the fall of her junior year. She returned in September and it paid off. Two years later, she would suit up for the Cardinal and White.
'I was nervous that I wouldn't be ready and back for those fall tournaments,' Szczechowksi said. 'But luckily I was back in September. The recruiting process was fun and I was really excited to come here.'
The University of Wisconsin also appealed to Szczechowksi because of its high academic standards. In fact, her top three schools ' UW, Northwestern and Dartmouth, are all notorious for their academics. Szczechowksi truly exemplifies what it means to be a student-athlete. She is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection as a consumer science major.
After her soccer career wraps up this fall, Szczechowski will take the next three semesters to finish up her Bachelor's degree as a 'normal' student. She is thinking of one day working in the marketing field, or maybe going to grad school. Szczechowski admits, though, she wouldn't mind the lifestyle of a soccer coach.
'I am really not sure at this point,' Szczechowski said. 'I 'm just taking it one day at a time."
