She’s just like a Swiffer, only her work is done on the soccer pitch, not the messy kitchen floor.
“My role - I just say I’m just the little sweeper-upper, the little sweeper-keeper-upper,” says Brenna Skillern, the Sooner Athletic Conference defensive player of the year for the Oklahoma City University Stars. Her honors have earned her this week's distinction of Super Star of the Week.
And just like that Swiffer sitting in the corner waiting to be used, Skillern and the Stars defense wait at the ready, prepared to play clean up should the opponent break into the backfield.
Skillern, a sophomore from Yukon, Okla., is used to her unheralded role and embraces it with every shutout added to the tally of 10, every ball won, every match the Stars add to their 17-game win streak.
“As a defender you hide under the radar a lot, but growing up and playing in that position you kind of get used to the fact that you’re not going to get the glory like the forwards do,” Skillern said. “Coach Harvey makes sure after games to tell us defensively we’re playing really great and that he’s really proud of us for what we’ve been doing.
“Harvey is recognizing what we’ve been doing and how we’ve tried to improve our defense. Even though some people might not know, we know.”
Skillern is becoming known to opponents and coaches throughout the SAC, culminating in her defensive player of the year award and her second appearance on the all-SAC roster. But the individual accolades came as a surprise to the sophomore, who often looks to fellow defender and all-SAC honoree Josefine Holmgren for guidance on the field. Holmgren, a senior from Huskvarna, Sweden, has become a guiding influence on Skillern as her OCU career progresses.
“It came to a total shock to be named defensive player of the year,” Skillern said. “I totally see Jo on our team and I think she’s a tremendous defender. I see her strengths are my weaknesses and I just see that she’s a great defender. She’s helped me a lot during these past two years to build up my confidence and she’s just wonderful help.”
Along with individual achievements, the team is becoming a recognizable name in the NAIA landscape this season. The Stars will be playing in the 2010 NAIA Women’s Soccer National Championship Opening Round this Saturday. A familiar road for the OCU upperclassmen who qualified in 2008, Skillern is excited and nervous about her opportunity to play soccer on a national stage.
“I’m super nervous,” said Skillern. “To get to this level in college, go nationally, that’s super exciting but also super nervous. You just want to show up and show teams how good your team is.”
The upperclassmen have shared their 2008 experience and now Skillern is eager to create her own experience at this year’s national tournament.
“They’ve talked about it sometimes, just the excitement of going and how much they just want to be back there,” Skillern said.
Skillern’s initial goal of being named first-team all-SAC has already been reached and exceeded, so striving towards a national championship is now on her radar.
“I imagine it’s going to be really tough, because now you’re down to the top teams in every state,” Skillern said of the 32-team field. “I imagine they’re all going to be physical and they’re all going to be good teams. But I think we’re prepared for it.
"I hope we just keep going like we’re going and just go as far as we can. Now my goal is to win the national tournament.”
Skillern and the women begin their quest for the title Saturday at 2 p.m. at Stars Field as they face off against Bellevue (Neb.) in the 2010 Women's Soccer National Championship Opening Round.
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