Coming into his senior year, Stephen Sheffield has fullfulled his potential for Oklahoma City University.
After having to redshirt for a year after he transferred from Tyler (Texas), Sheffield is now one of the top scorers for the Stars. Sheffield has posted six goals and six assists with two contests left in the regular season, while during 2007 Sheffield had a total of five goals.
Sheffield, a senior from Jacksonville, Texas, has garnered Super Star of the Week for Oct. 20-26.
“I think it took me a year to settle back into playing after I had to sit out a year as a redshirt,” said Sheffield. “I really couldn’t pinpoint what the difference is with my playing between this season and last season.”
The difference in play allowed him to score the only goal in the highly touted match against Southern Nazarene on Oct. 25.
Sheffield obviously has high expectations for himself and his team this season, and was able to meet one of these expectations with the big win over Southern Nazarene.
“It’s one thing to get a big win, but it’s another thing when you play for OCU and you beat Southern Nazarene,” said Sheffield. “It was a really great moment for me, it was senior night, we were able to beat SNU and my mom was there to see me play, which could be the last time she gets to see me play.”
Sheffield transferred to OCU in 2006 but was unable to play soccer that season due to transfer issues. A week before the season started he was told that he would not be able to play and instead redshirted.
“Even though I couldn’t play, I kept practicing and exercising,” Sheffield said. “I became the no. 1 fan of the team just wishing I could play.”
What a difference a year makes. Sheffield went from No. 1 fan to one of the top offensive players for the Stars. So far in the season, he has accumulated 18 points which is in line with the Stars’ top scorer Chris Spendlove.
“As a team we don’t depend on just one or two guys to score the goals, so it takes the pressure off of me, which I think makes it easier to relax and be able to score,” Sheffield said.
The Stars are currently ranked second in the NAIA and have been on a 13-match winning streak. OCU has its highest ranking in school history. Sheffield and his teammates aim to back it up.
“We definitely want to go to nationals, but we also want to make some noise there,” said Sheffield.
More on Stephen:
Favorite food: Pasta
Favorite athlete: Jordan Larson
Reason I picked OCU: I like it
Three things I must have if I were stranded on a desert island: A boat, a motor and a map
Favorite TV channel: TBS
