Sophomore Molly Brunk was named MAAC defensive player of the week for her goalkeeping in three shutdown games.
@JASPERSWSOC/ COURTESY
By Andrew Mannion, Sports Editor and Mary Haley, Asst. Features Editor/Marketing Chair
This past week, the goalkeeper for the Jaspers women’s soccer team, Molly Brunk, won the MAAC Defensive Player of the Week award. She led the Jaspers on their three-game winning streak after shutting out LIU, Wagner and CCSU in the following week.
Brunk is no stranger to MAAC awards, having collected two MAAC Rookie of the Week awards last season. Starting all 15 games in her young career, she has found great success early on. Her teammates have said that this is no fluke, accrediting her great leadership communication throughout the game as to why she has been playing at such an impressive level.
“I think me and Maddie (Feller) are in the backline, and we’re talking the entire game, but Molly drowns us out,” defender Julia Nicholas said. “She’s an amazing leader. She definitely has (leadership) that can’t be taught or coached, and she has it. So I think the team will be in amazing hands with her for the next couple of years.”
After winning her third weekly award, Brunk commented on her success. She said that as great as it is to be recognized for her achievements, she still needs to look forward and continue her success as the season continues.
“It’s nice to have my efforts recognized for having shutouts,” Brunk said. “But I think also the main key is not having it go above my head. Like I got it and it’s a great thing to be recognized for, but I need to keep grinding. I have to keep putting in the work.”
Just as they do Brunk, the seniors have much faith in the younger players on the team. Freshman defender Lily Bandel has proven this by playing every minute since the team’s first game against Fordham on Aug. 15, and there also, making her first collegiate start.
Maddie Feller, senior center back, explained to The Quadrangle how the goals were set in the preseason, and how this dynamic was crucial in seeing success this early on in the season.
“I think in preseason, our major thought was getting us organized,” Feller said. “We were all new playing with Lily [Bandel] and I went from an outside position to a center position, so I was learning it alongside her. Lily’s ability to take communication and relay it onto the field made her able to fit right in, and Mayah [Wheeler] is just a ball of energy. Her hard work just ripples down the line. If you see her working hard, you know you have to put your all into it as well.”
Being seniors, Feller and Nicholas are no strangers to these successes, and have much faith for the team going into their last collegiate seasons. This year especially, the Jaspers have a strategic form of communication on the field that they do not want to fall through after their preseason games.
“Everyone’s doing their job,” Nicholas said. “Molly’s doing her job, she’s having these shutouts. Defense is doing their job. Midfielders are doing their job. Forwards are doing their job, they’re scoring. So I think everything is settling in at the right pace we want. We didn’t want to peak against Fordham, we didn’t want our season to be at its highest against West Point. I think we’re heading in the right trajectory. So [we are] just continuing to work hard everyday and not being satisfied at any point.”