Marquette University Athletics
Gordon Gets Her Chance to Produce
4/29/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
April 23, 2003
By Thomas Melville
Carolina Courage Staff
CARY, N.C. - In the 70th minute on a cool Saturday evening at SAS Stadium, Kate Gordon's professional soccer officially started for Carolina.
Trailing Boston 3-0 and running out of time, Courage coach Jay Entlich needed some instant offense and turned to the rookie speedster, who scored 48 goals during her collegiate career at Marquette University, and knows her way around the box.
"I went with Kate because she has had two great weeks of training," said Entlich, who also had the more experienced forward Venus James on the bench. "I put Kate in because of her speed and her heart. The way that the game was going, it was all about heart and that is something Kate really brings to the table. That was the difference there. Plus, in this system, playing out of a three-front, Kate's pretty familiar with that so it was a bit of a tactical decision."
It turned out to be the right decision.
Gordon's fresh legs sparked the Carolina attack and four minutes into her WUSA career she earned her first point with an assist on a Birgit Prinz blast from just inside the box. Unfortunately for the Courage, the two-goal deficit was too much to overcome. They lost 3-1.
"I'm so glad Kate got in tonight," said Courage forward Danielle Fotopoulos, who received Gordon's serve into the box and knocked it over to Prinz. "She definitely was a spark and that's why she was brought in to kind of light up our team a little bit. She's an attacker and she can score."
For Gordon, it was a long time coming but also a little nerve-wrecking.
"I was so pumped to go in," she said. "I've been waiting for this moment for a very, very long time. Coach just said 'Are you ready?' and I knew what I had to do. I warmed up as quick as I could. When I got on the field, it was an adrenaline rush at first. But I tried to calm myself down a little bit and concentrate so I could do something good."
It was better than good. While playing on the right wing she tracked down a loose ball on the left side of the pitch, saw Prinz making a run and served it around a defender. The ball hit Fotopoulos, bounced free and Prinz cleaned it up by burying a low show past the Boston keeper Karina LeBlanc.
"We were playing three up front and we just kind of interchanged positions," she said. "I usually like to play on the wing so I can get a run down the sidelines. I don't know how I ended up over there (on the left side). I saw Birgit in the box and thought if I can get it to her feet she can do something with it. It got to Fotop and then Birgit got the shot off and it was a beautiful shot."
The 22-year-old Sioux City, Iowa, native, who is an elementary education major and is still taking college courses with Marquette, is also learning about life as a professional with Prinz and Fotop as the professors.
"This is an awesome opportunity for me," said Gordon, who was the Courage's fourth-round draft pick this year. "I learn something every day from Fotop and Birgit.
"They're great leaders and they encourage me and help me be a better player. I'm really lucky to be playing with them. They give me tips on how to play defensive forward and make better runs. There's a lot of stuff I need to work on. They do great flicks, they are really great with their feet and their shots are amazing."
She also is learning the business side of being a professional.
"In college, playing soccer is not really like a job. But it's definitely a job here where you're paid to perform and if you don't produce you don't play."
With an assist in only 20 minutes of work, Gordon better hope she is not being paid by the hour.
