From the Sierra Nevada's to the vast cornfields of the Great Plains. That's just one of the changes Douglas High girls soccer team goalie Ashley Sulprizio will have to deal with next fall when she attends the University of Nebraska on a soccer scholarship.
In every sport, except football and soccer, Wednesday was the first day high school seniors could sign national letters of intents with a university. Sulprizio will have to wait until February 8 to officially sign with the Cornhuskers but her mind has been made up for months.
"Once Nebraska came into the picture, my focus went to them," said Sulprizio, who canceled visits to the University of Illinois and the University of San Francisco since committing to Nebraska. "The team and the school, it was just irresistible. I just knew I wanted to be a part of it."
After her campus visit in August, Nebraska coach John Walker gave the 6'1 goalie just two days to make her decision. She got back from Lincoln, Neb., on a Tuesday. The next day she verbally committed.
"They (the coaches) just told me not to make my decision based on the weather," Sulprizio said. "It's flat and it gets really cold there but all the other things just came together for me. I could just see that the school treat their athletes great."
Nebraska finished the season ranked No. 2 in the nation with a 21-1 record. With its 4-1 over then No. 9 Texas A&M last week in the Big 12 championship game, the Cornhuskers have now won the Big 12 regular season and conference championships for the past two years. Thye've also finished the past four season ranked in the top ten nationally. After getting a first round bye in this year's NCAA Tournament, Nebraska will play Richmond on Saturday in the second round.
This season, senior Karina LeBlanc is the Cornhuskers starting goalie while sophomore Leah Lamale is the back-up goalie. Lamale, who's been used sparingly in her first two seasons, is who Sulprizio will have to beat out if she hopes to play as a freshman. But Sulprizio isn't even worried about that right now.
"I just want to learn the ropes as a freshman," Sulprizio said. "John told me me he'd play the best goalie, whoever that is. It'll be a huge change for me and to adjust, I'm going to have to pick up my level of intensity.
"When I was on my visit, I couldn't believe how intense the practices were. I mean, they were out for blood."
Nebraska first noticed Sulprizio when she was playing for the Nevada state team in an Olympic Develop Program tournament in Iowa. Cornhusker assistant coach Marty Everding was there to look at a goalie from another state. Instead, he found Sulprizio.
"He wasn't even there to see me," Sulprizio said with a smile. "But that's how things work out sometimes. I was just in the right place at the right time."
To better prepare herself for the anticipated rigors of college soccer, Sulprizio will play with San Juan Soccer Club, where she thinks she'll be exposed to the same level of competition found at top flight college programs such as Nebraska. The Sacramento, Calif., based soccer club is one of the top clubs in Northern California.
"They have a couple of national pool players on the team, so the competition will be up there," Sulprizio said. "I'll drive over once a week for practices and games, and then play tournaments with them."
With the commute to Sacramento each week, Sulprizio won't be able to play basketball this season for the Tigers. She didn't think she'd be able to juggle soccer, basketball, and school.
"I'm bummed because I won't be able to play basketball," Sulprizio said. "I had a blast last year but all those things would be a little too much on my plate."
The sacrifice may be tough for some high school athletes but Sulprizio used to it. Since committing to Nebraska, every Sunday for the past two months, Sulprizio has driven 200 miles to Moraga, Calif., to work out with Steve Reardon, a goalie coach and former goalie for the St. Mary's University men's soccer team. Not bad dedication for someone who wasn't even sure she wanted to even play college soccer.
"I didn't even get serious about soccer until about two years ago," Sulprizio said. "You could ask anybody on my team from last year, and they'd tell you I wasn't real serious at practice."
Sulprizio will major in business at Nebraska, which has a nationally ranked business school. She said that soccer wasn't the only reason for choosing Nebraska.
"I realize that you can't play soccer forever," said Sulprizio, who carries a 3.9 GPA and scored an 1130 on her SAT and 26 on her ACT. "Academics were just as important to me as soccer. It just turned out that Nebraska had both."
She also realizes that becoming home sick is a definite possibility, considering she has lived in the Carson Valley her entire life.
"I've never been away from home for an extended period of time but I don't think anybody my age has," Sulprizio said. "I might get a little homesick but the team is so tight back there, they do everything together. So I think that will help."
