Bowling Green State University Athletics
Lone Senior is Ultimate Team Player for Falcons
October 17, 2006 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 13, 2006
By JESSICA AMELING, Sentinel Sports Writer - Last year the BGSU women's soccer team boasted nine seniors.
And then there was one.
Lindsay Carter entered this season as the active career scoring leader and the only player to be part of two NCAA tournament teams. She's also the only player to have three Mid-American Conference tournament championship games under her belt. She is, after all, the only senior on the team.
"It's a little weird," co-captain Carter said of her solo status. "Sad, kind of."
Carter's class started with about five other athletes who all left the team due to injuries and transfers.
"They didn't expect it I guess," Carter said. "Division I soccer, they thought it was going to be something else."
At 5 foot 2, Carter is by no means the largest physical presence on the team. And she isn't the most vocal leader either.
"I just lead by example usually," said the Hilliard native.
But that leadership is invaluable to a team that brought in 11 freshmen and one transfer this season. Carter has 18 career points on six goals and six assists and has played in at least 21 games every year.
"She's a tough competitor, so she leads by example," coach Andy Richards said. "She's also got the experience, so she has that which she can bring to the team."
Carter has more experience than most, as she has played a different position each year of her collegiate career.
"He just throws me around," she said. "I don't really care where I play, I just want to play."
Her freshman year she played outside midfielder, then moved to outside defender her sophomore year. Last year she played outside forward and her current position is center midfield.
"She's a good player so you want to get her on the field," Richards said. "And she has the ability to be flexible as well, which is another one of her good traits."
Carter always picks a team goal that's "one step higher than the year before," and for this team, that's a lofty goal. The 2005 squad finished 14-7-2 overall and 9-2 in MAC. The Falcons also were the Mid-American Conference regular season and tournament champions and advanced to the NCAA tournament. So this year all Carter wants to accomplish is the same conference championships and a campaign to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
The team is off to a positive start at 3-1 in the MAC and 6-6 overall. And a lot of that success can be contributed to the freshman class.
"I remember my freshman year, I came in and I was really little and the first time I got on the field I was in for a big shock right away," Carter said. "But they've adjusted really well, they're doing awesome."
Carter almost didn't come to BGSU her freshman year, as the school wasn't on her list of top choices. But her dad told her to go on a tour with an open mind and it didn't take long for Carter to be swayed.
"Coach was very consistent, he wrote me letters every week," she said. "And then I came and he was such a nice guy and the girls were pretty much what did it for me, they were just awesome."
Carter started playing soccer at age five and has played club soccer "pretty much my whole life," she said. While in high school she also ran cross country her junior and senior years while simultaneously playing club soccer. She earned first team all-state honors her senior year in cross country by placing 25th at the state meet.
Although soccer has always been her first love, the exercise specialist major said she does miss cross country a lot.
"I'll probably start running more once soccer's done," she said.
And that probably won't be a tough adjustment, considering all the changes Carter's gone through in the past three years.
"She's just become very adaptable," Richards said. "When she first came she was a wide midfield player, but she's just learned the game. But she's always been very fit, always been very hard-working, always been committed. Those things haven't changed at all."
