Student Life: Tell me about how the race went.
Molly Schlamb: The plan was for [junior] Kelli Blake to rabbit me through the first 800 [meters] of the 12 leg. She did an absolutely perfect job, and I couldn’t have done it without her. I handed off to Erica [after the 1200 meter leg], who busted out a great 4 leg. Geetz [Hardy] ran a great 8, and then Liz just rolled the mile. It was one of the most exciting races I’ve been a part of. The great thing about relays is that you all need each other, you all have to have a great day, and you all build off of each other’s momentum. Carrying the baton, it just becomes magic.

SL: Which is cooler: setting a school record or earning a trip to nationals?
Sangeeta Hardy: It’s a tough call. My freshman year I ran the DMR [distance medley relay] at indoor nationals, so I am beyond thrilled to be going back, this time a more experienced and hopefully faster runner. However, knowing that we have the school record, and a pretty fast one at that, gives me a sense of pride that will last a lot longer than a few days at nationals. It’s always fun looking back on records and seeing which ones you aspire to break. Now, Molly, Erica, Liz and I get to be that record that future Wash. U. runners will be aspiring to break.

SL: How much is being part of a team, in itself, and knowing you have three other teammates counting on you a motivation factor?
Erica Jackey: I think everyone would agree that the team factor plays a pivotal role in motivation. We help each other adhere to the disciplined lifestyle that is necessary to lead in order to be successful in our sport. Being a part of a team that is extremely close and supportive of each other makes staying disciplined much easier and far more enjoyable. The DMR relay is my favorite part of the indoor track season because it is a team event, not just an individual race.
Liz Phillips: The best thing about being on a relay is that I get to be a part of something more important than myself. There is something very special about getting the baton from a teammate and knowing that I am running for each of the other three girls. Whenever I am tired or in pain, I just remember my three teammates and I push through the pain for them, just like they do for me.

SL: As it stands, your time is second in Division III behind St. Thomas by less than two seconds and ahead of Wartburg by 0.12 seconds. What kind of shot do you give yourselves to take the whole thing?
SH: I have never been more confident in my teammates or proud of them than I was on Saturday. I have seen all of these girls put all of their heart and strength into running and our DMR. I know that come nationals, we will undoubtedly be ready to achieve our greatest. That may mean winning, and it may not. However, I will tell you that I will put all of my money on us being the prettiest, most prepared, most having fun DMR at nationals.

SL: What’s the attitude like in practice with a little more than a week left before conferences and then nationals soon after that?
MS: We are all just so excited. This is not only a talented group, but a group who cares so much about each other. We all are just preparing ourselves to line up at nationals and leave it all out there. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I do know it will be something really special.

SL: Favorite Olympic sport besides track?
MS: Gymnastics.
EJ: Swimming and gymnastics.
LP: Short-track speed skating.
SH: Trampoline! Just kidding. But seriously, it’s pretty sweet to watch—at least for the first couple of minutes.

SL: You need to get fired up. what song are you going to listen to?
MS: If I’m listening by myself, probably something by Kanye West. But if I’m singing with this relay group, definitely something from “Moulin Rouge” soundtrack. That’s our specialty!

Senior Janice Evans passes the ball around a defender. Evans will be honored on Friday at Senior Night before the game. (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

The No. 6 Washington University women’s basketball team is on top of the University Athletic Association conference with a 20-2 record (10-1 UAA), and the team’s seniors have provided veteran leadership that has played a huge part in the team’s success. One of these seniors, forward and co-captain Janice Evans, is coming off of a strong effort against New York University in which she scored 14 points and helped the Bears pull away in the second half. With the team’s seniors to be honored before Friday’s game for Senior Night, Evans has been named Student Life’s Female Athlete of the Week.

Student Life: What did you think about the New York University game, especially in the second half, and about how you guys are playing right now?
Janice Evans: We’re playing a lot better. We had a little rough patch when we hit the road two weekends in a row. Our shots are falling, and we’re getting off to better starts in games.

SL: How does this season, for you, compare to last season, and what kind of added responsibilities do you feel being a captain of this team?
JE: I definitely feel more responsibility for myself and my actions and for my teammates. Basketball-wise, it feels the same. I think we’re doing well. There’s always that sense of urgency seniors feel when they’re in their last year. We just want to win the UAA, get into the tournament, and work our way through there.

SL: You’re one of three seniors (with Stacey Niese and Zoë Unruh) who will be honored this Friday at Senior Night. What has it meant to you to be a part of this team and this group of seniors?
JE: I probably can’t even put it in words. Stacey and Zoë are two of my closest friends here, two of my roommates, and it’s just been a really special time these last four years to share with the two of them. It’s nice that the three of us stuck around, and it’s nice to be able to celebrate what we’ve done here.

SL: What kind of a relationship have you developed with head coach Nancy Fahey over these last four years?
JE: Coach Fahey is like a mom away from home. She looks out for you, keeps you in line if you’re doing something crazy. She’s an excellent mentor and an excellent coach. She’s a really great person outside of basketball. She’s done a lot of great things for people on this team and has helped all of us become strong women.

SL: Are there any pre-game rituals that you have?
JE: In the green room, Hannah Cusworth and I sing these songs, and at the end of one of the songs, we have this little dance-off, and we have to come up with a new dance every game, so I’m running out of ideas. I have to get creative.

Evans and the Bears face Case Western Reserve University at 6 p.m. on Wednesday and Carnegie Mellon at 1 p.m. on Sunday in their last home games of the regular season.

Student Life: How did it feel to qualify for nationals so early in the season?

Dan Davis: It was really great in the sense that I was happy to get it out of the way, so I could move forward. Because meeting provisional time doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to nationals, it means that you’re in the pool of people who are considered to go to nationals…It’s nice, because it took me until the end of the year last year, and so it’s like I’m starting off where I finished last year, and most of the time it takes a while to shake off the rust.

SL: What are your typical races, and why do you like those events?

DD: Any given meet I’ll probably run the hurdles and either the 55 dash or the 200 dash, and always the 4×400 [relay]. Hurdles are my favorite event, just because I’ve been doing them forever and they’re my best event. 200 and 55 I enjoy, they’re mostly just speed work for me to develop to help my hurdling, and 4×4 is a lot of fun…It’s always the last race on the track and so you get everybody out there. Everybody’s done with their events, they’re all standing on the track, cheering all four legs around, guys and girls. I think it’s the most fun event in a team sense.

SL: How long have you been running? How did you get involved with track?

DD: My dad is a track coach, so I guess I’ve been running since I was 9 or 10 years old…I definitely really got into it because my dad was a coach and I stuck with it because my dad was a coach. Throughout junior high and freshman year of high school, I was little. I hadn’t hit my growth spurt yet, but then sophomore year I gained like 6 inches, which was perfect for the hurdles. But the fact that I was so small and wasn’t the fastest guy on the team really helped in preparation, because I guess I focused on technique more because that was all I really had.

SL: Do you have any pre-meet rituals? How do you get pumped up to race?

DD: I guess everybody sort of has their own thing. Once I’m at the meet, getting pumped up for the race, I slap myself. Everybody looks at me really funny, every meet, regardless of where I am or who I’m running against. I slap myself, wake myself up. It releases adrenaline. But then once I’m by the blocks I usually like to stay calm. Everybody has their own little blocks routine, once you’ve been running for a while you get into the blocks a certain way every time. I guess what I do I’ve heard as “spider-ing” back into the blocks.

SL: What kind of goals do you have for the rest of the season?

DD: I would say at this point, on a small increment level, I would like to drop my time indoors long enough to secure going to nationals. After that I’m going to be excited if I get the opportunity to compete at nationals, because it’s invaluable for future competition, whether at nationals or local competition. I guess my ultimate goal as an athlete at this point would be to become an All-American in the high hurdles.

Davis and the Bears return to action at the Monmouth Fighting Scots Invitational on Feb. 13.

Freshman goalie Clara Jaques was recently named the University Athletic Association’s Rookie of the Year. She posted a .842 save percentage, a mere .015 points behind the league leader. Jaques has completed nine shutouts of the soccer team’s 16 wins. Over the weekend, Jaques shut out No. 21-ranked Illinois Wesleyan in an overtime win to lead the Bears to the NCAA sectionals against No. 24 Wheaton College on Friday.

Student Life: What has been the most memorable game this season?

Clara Jaques: I’d say the last game, against Illinois Wesleyan. To get back at them and kind of redeem ourselves for losing to them in the first game of the year, and to win it in overtime like that is pretty cool.

SL: How does it feel to be UAA Rookie of the Year?

CJ: It feels good. It’s awesome—the fact that I can contribute so soon to such a successful team is really cool.

SL: What has been, so far, the high point of the year?

CJ: I think we’re in it right now, like winning last Sunday and this week with the anticipation of going out to play Wheaton and just the excitement behind the team and the boys’ team coming out. Yeah, we’re in the middle of it right now.

SL: Speaking of the mens’ team, how do you feel about the [Head Coach Jim] Conlon Crazies?

CJ: They’re hilarious. I tried to keep a straight face when they came out with the new Frère Jacques. I laughed on the field in the middle of the game. I have a lot of respect for their rhyming abilities.

SL: What’s it like being a freshman on the team?

CJ: It’s awesome. There are 10 of us, so it’s kind of a majority compared to other classes. We’re just treated like anyone else. The seniors, juniors and sophomores are all so nice to us. I couldn’t ask for better upperclassmen.

SL: How long have you played soccer and been a goalie?

CJ: Since I was like 5…my parents made me. A couple years after I started, no one else want[ed] to play goalie, so if you’re at all good at it, then they make you keep playing. I think that’s the story with every goalie there is.

SL: Any team or personal pre-game rituals?

CJ: We’ve been really liking Olive Garden of late. We’ve eaten there three times. The endless bread sticks are a big hit. As far as pre-game rituals…well, Laura McGinnis has started to talk about how “no one dances in our W.” We have a little dance session [on the field before the game]. At home games we do the Wash. U. fight song that not many people know exists. I still don’t know the words. Caryn [Rosoff], a senior, doesn’t even know the words. We all just awkwardly clap.

SL: Any funny moments from the season?

CJ: Saturday, at halftime, Coach asked random people about good things we did in the first half. Then he’s like “Jaques,” and I’d been preparing in my head what to say to the question if he asked me. I thought he was going to ask me the same question, and he asked me a completely different question and I just screamed, “Shut out!” Everyone died [laughing].

Sophomore Michael Burnstein races at the Big River Running Early Bird on Sept. 5. Burnstein led the Bears to a third-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional and a berth in the NCAA Championship in Cleveland on Nov. 21. (Johann Qua Hiansen | Student Life)

Major: Urban studies
Hometown: Brookline, Mass.

After coming off bouts of both the flu and pneumonia, sophomore Michael Burnstein led the Washington University men’s cross country team to a third-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional championships this past weekend. At his first race in nearly a month, Burnstein finished 16th out of 282 runners with a time of 24:52.4. The Bears’ third-place finish earned them an at-large bid to the national championship meet.

Student Life: Take us back through regionals this past weekend.

Michael Burnstein: I wasn’t really sure how we were doing. I knew we were all running as a huge pack, which we had never really done before. Normally, we are all spread out, 15 seconds apart from each other, but this time, our whole top four was running next to each other. We ran by our coach with about two miles to go, and our coach told us that we had six [runners] in the top 40. That’s when I knew that we were doing big things, because we did not expect to be that far up.

SL: How big of a race was this for you, coming off pneumonia and leading your team to successful results?

MB: It really meant a lot to me. I did not know what to expect before the race. I figured…I’d either feel great or I was still going to be sick, and I was just going to bomb, but after a couple of miles, and I still felt pretty good, I knew I was healthy, and it ended up working out.

SL: What does this performance at the regional championships do for the team?

MB: It’s huge, I think. The team hasn’t made nationals in three or four years, and we’ve never been third in our region. This is the [highest] we’ve ever finished. We really have a chance to prove that we’re the best team to come out of Wash. U. ever, which is pretty incredible.

SL: Your team faced both the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country this past weekend (North Central College and University of Wisconsin-La Crosse). What kind of confidence does this generate, heading into nationals?

MB:  Just the fact that we were only 13 points, which isn’t very many, behind La Crosse University was just a huge confidence booster. Before the race, we pretty much discounted the possibility of us beating them. We figured, “All right, the best we can do is fourth,” and we ended up getting third and almost getting second. We have a lot of momentum coming into nationals.

SL: Regardless of how the team does at nationals, what does the future hold for this team?

MB: Things are looking really good. Not only do we have a ton of guys from varsity returning next year, but the great thing about Wash. U. is that we just have a huge program of guys that are all committed. We have 40 guys on the team. They could be on varsity on most teams around the country…so I think the team’s just going to continue to get better and better every year.

SL: What do you see as your own outlook?

MB: Personally, I hope I can continue to improve. I think I should. My goal is to get All-American this weekend.

The men’s national championship meet begins at noon (ET) on Saturday, Nov. 21, in Highland Hills, Ohio.

Junior David Chao gazes at the scoreboard after winning the 400 freestyle relay, giving the Bears the overall victory at Saturday’s meet versus Southern Illinois University Carbondale. (Jared Bullock | Student Life)

Hometown: Paoli, Pa.
Major: Mechanical Engineering

Junior David Chao was the lone Washington University swimmer to win an individual event against Division I SIU-Carbondale on Oct. 30. Chao won the 200-yard freestyle against DePauw and swam the anchor leg in a 400 free relay that was decided by a second on Oct. 31. His accomplishments in the pool have earned him Athlete of the Week honors.

Student Life: Talk about the 400 free relay against DePauw.

David Chao: We knew it was going to come down to that relay. We all got in a huddle and said how we had to win this. When the third guy jumped in, I was already pretty excited. My adrenaline was pumping. When I get on the blocks, I usually look to the guys next to me just to get me more pumped up and saying ‘This is the guy I need to beat.”

Marc (Minowitz, Wash. U. freshman) got a good lead for me. I’m sure I would have been even more excited if it was close. I was actually kind of worried [DePauw’s John Cook] would have caught me. His best time is probably a second faster than mine. He should have won the race. I guess I stepped it up more than him. I love swimming under pressure.

When I dove in, it was no problem. My arms were turning really fast. My adrenaline was pumping. My leg started dying on the last 25. I was like ‘I better not lose this’. I was gritting my teeth and holding on for dear life. I looked up at the scoreboard and everyone was cheering.

SL: What are the season goals?

DC: Top two at UAAs, top four at NCAAs and top GPA in the nation. A big one was when one person is on the blocks, everyone is on the blocks. When one person is on the blocks, everyone’s cheering. We’re trying to do everything to succeed as a team.

SL: What do students miss out on by not going to Wash. U. meets?

DC: They’re missing out on seeing how excited part of the Wash. U. community that is the swimmers gets so excited for each other. They’ll be surprised to see how close some meets come down especially the last event. You’ll be winning one time losing the other time.

I got a text from one of my friends who lived on my freshman floor. She was like ‘that was my first time at a Wash. U. swim meet. I never expected it to be that crazy or intense’. You wouldn’t expect a swim meet to be that intense. A lot of the races are pretty close. That just makes for a very exciting and loud atmosphere in the pool.

SL: What would be your fun event?

DC: My fun event is definitely the 100 breast. Brad [Shively, head coach] and the entire team know that the breaststroke is definitely my weakest stroke and they all make fun of me for it. Last year in one of our meets against Principia, he put me in the 100 breast and I actually did pretty well. I won it. Everyone started kidding around saying I should start training. My goal is to break a minute the next time I swim it.

SL: What’s been your most memorable race?

DC: The 800 free relay at Nationals last year. Kevin Leckey was the anchor. When he dove in, we weren’t in third. I think we were fifth or sixth. The other guys on the team were Alex Beyer and Chris Valach. We were all so pumped. Even though we were so tired from swimming our part of the race, we had enough energy to go all out and cheer for him. When he touched and we saw that we got third, that was one of the best feelings that I’ve had in a Wash. U. race.

The Bears’ next meet is the Washington University Thanksgiving Invitational on Nov. 21.

Senior midfielder Becca Heymann takes a corner kick during a 1-0 victory against Carnegie Mellon University on Oct. 11. Heymann has scored four goals and made one assist this season. This is her fourth year with Bears soccer. (Nora Jehle | Student Life)

Major: PNP (Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology)

Hometown: Winchester, Mass.

Senior soccer co-captain Becca Heymann scored two goals and had an assist in Sunday’s 8-0 victory against Fontbonne University. Heymann’s contributions earned her UAA Offensive Athlete of the Week and also this week’s Student Life Athlete of the Week.

Student Life: What’s the biggest game remaining on your schedule?

Becca Heymann: I’m really excited to play Brandeis and have my family and friends there. Brandeis just beat Emory, who we tied. All our games from here on out are important. We have to win them all in order to win the UAA. If we get our business done this weekend, Chicago is going to be the clinching game.

SL: What’s the toughest part of playing in the UAA?

BH: The UAA is one of the strongest conferences in Division III for women’s soccer. For that reason, every game you play, you have to show up. The nice thing is that all the teams we play have similar academic pressures so the girls that we’re playing against are kind of like us in a lot of ways. But that means that they’re just as dedicated.

SL: How does it feel to be on a 12-game unbeaten streak?

BH: For us, tying at Emory felt like a loss. It doesn’t feel like we have been coasting or anything like that. When we beat Rochester, we beat them in overtime. We’ve had challenging games that we’ve won. We’re staying positive because we haven’t had any letdowns other than that Emory game.

SL: What part of your game have you improved the most at Wash. U.?

BH: Something I’ve improved on is my ability to play off the players around me, always playing one- and two-touch, create opportunities where they might otherwise not exist.

SL: What’s it like being a captain?

BH: I really want everyone on our team to feel like they’re an important part of our team, because they are. We have three captains, and we each sort of fill in different places. I’m not the loudest person in terms of motivating people. Before games, I always talk to the team. I’m sort of their last word before we go out on the field.

SL: What do you tell the team?

BH: I say something about working harder than the other team, being more physical, why it’s important, and then we do the fight song. I’m well remembered for a speech I gave where I said the other team should reconsider their ever coming onto Francis Field, and that is occasionally repeated in my presence.

SL: What’s the team’s philosophy?

BH: We’re confident but not overly confident. [The seniors are] all are very dedicated to the team and love soccer. We’re leaders that don’t micromanage. We like to lead by example in most cases. That sort of lends itself to a team that doesn’t get super nervous or be really stressed out.

SL: What’s been the biggest influence in your soccer career?

BH: The most important advice I’ve gotten from [a coach] was to play because it’s your release. I’ve always gone to practice and games saying I’m going to have a good time today. It fulfills me in some way. It’s something I like to do and love to do.

SL: What’s something people would be surprised to know about you or your team?

BH: I threw javelin in high school. I was fourth place in New England for prep schools.

The Bears head off to Brandeis and NYU this weekend for more UAA action.

Senior linebacker Bryce Buchanan places the ball for a field goal in a tough 24-20 loss for the Bears against the College of Wooster on Oct. 17. (Daniel Eichotltz | Student Life)

Major: Civil engineering

Hometown: Colorado Springs, Colo.

In the football team’s 24-12 win on Oct. 24 over Ohio Wesleyan University, Washington University senior linebacker Bryce Buchanan recorded a team-high eight tackles. In seven football games this season, he is third on the team in tackles with 36 and leads the team in sacks with 1.5. Buchanan’s consistent play this season and strong performance against the Battling Bishops have won him Student Life Athlete of the Week.

Student Life: Could you describe your performance against Ohio Wesleyan University last week?

Bryce Buchanan: I was playing safety on defense, and I played a little bit of [cornerback] too. We were facing a team which…does a lot of running, so when I was playing [cornerback] it was almost like I was playing outside linebacker. I was taking a lot of blocks at the line of scrimmage…A lot of times everybody would be pursuing to the ball, and then the runningback would have nowhere to go except straight at me, so it made it pretty easy to get a lot of tackles.

SL: How does the defense get to be so dominant against OWU, allowing only 13 yards in the first quarter and one first down the whole first half?

BB: We really scouted them well. Our coaches do a real good job of analyzing film…they really know what plays they’re going to run in certain situations…So we had a real good idea of what they were going to do, and we just came out ready to play.

SL: What kind of message does that early performance send not only to the team you’re facing but to the rest of the teams on your schedule?

BB: We’re going into conference [play] right now, and I think a defensive performance like that was something that we really needed. We shut them down. I hope that sends a message to our upcoming opponents that our defense is here to play; our team is here to play. We’re not like our record shows–we’re a much better team.

SL: It just seems like the whole season, especially the past few weeks, the defense has been playing on a much higher level. What has been working so well?

BB: I think just everybody is doing their individual roles. We always, every practice, run a drill called “pursuit drill,” where we basically just practice running to the ball. It’s not a fun drill at all, but it really makes it so when we go out on the field, everybody is running to the ball at full speed. Nobody is taking a play off. We’re just working hard.

SL: Would winning the University Athletic Association (UAA) conference salvage the season?

BB: It would be a real good thing. I’m a senior, and since I’ve been here, we haven’t won a conference championship, so it’s been a long time coming. I really hope we can get out there and do it this year. It would be a good way to leave off this season and carry everybody into next season too.

SL: What’s one thing you want to accomplish by the end of the season, football-wise, other than winning the UAA championship?

BB: Individually, I don’t really have a lot of goals. I just want the team to win. Whatever it takes for our team to win, whether that means me making big plays, everybody else making big plays—it doesn’t really matter.  I just want to win.

SL: Who has shaped your playing mentality the most?

BB: Everybody shapes it. From my dad growing up, my dad was a coach, so since I was a little kid he was coaching me, and then the coaches here do a great job, and our defensive backs coach…has a lot of experience. He really knows how to get you in the right state of mind to go out and play. He just really motivates you well.

Conference play starts this weekend at 1 p.m. (ET) on Saturday against Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Tim Machan returns an interception against Rhodes College on September 4. Machan led the Bears with eight tackles in a 23-0 win. (Joshua Goldman | Student Life)

In a must-win game against Rhodes College Saturday, Oct. 4th, senior defensive back Tim Machan perhaps made the biggest play of the day only seven minutes into the game. With the Lynx driving into the red zone, Machan intercepted a pass into the end zone, returning it 33 yards. The Lynx would be shutdown for the rest of the game. Machan’s interception and team-leading eight tackles earned him Student Life’s Male Athlete of the Week.

Student Life: Take us back through that interception.

Tim Machan: I think they were down to like the 10-yard-line. We were in a zone coverage. I just got a good read on my receiver’s route, got my eyes back to the quarterback and saw the ball coming. I stepped up, and I got a nice return…I think there was one guy I had to beat and I would’ve been gone.

SL: That big of a play has to do something for not only the defense, but for the entire team. What kinds of things were you hearing and seeing after that interception?

TM: It had been the first moment this year where I felt that the team really kind of collectively celebrated. Even in the Westminster game, we had flashes of it…but it really seemed to kind of bring everyone together and then move forward together, and we just dominated the rest of that game.

SL: Just a small fact, but that interception put you at No. 10 for career interceptions at Wash. U.. Does that mean anything to you?

TM: Not right now. Maybe in 10 or 20 years, when I’m telling my kids or my nephews and nieces about it, that’ll be something I’ll enjoy, but right now, it’s not all that important to me. In that game, we had four people get interceptions. That’s the more important stat, when we succeed as a team and as a defense. I’d be lying to say that it’s not fun, but that’s not why I play football.

SL: What are you looking to do every time you step onto the field for a game?

TM: When we take the field, what I’m looking to do is “use my techniques and play my assignment”, and that’s something that I hadn’t always done. At the beginning of this year, I had struggled a little bit, but when I got back to that, I noticed a difference in my play. It’s not worrying about the statistics, it’s not worrying about the big hit, it’s worrying about the little things you have to do; where you line up, what your first movement is, who you’re reading, how long your eyes are there before you’re back to the quarterback. When you focus on those things, then big plays come.

SL: It’s your senior season; you only have a few games left. What is something you want to accomplish by the end of the season?

TM: I want to win a UAA championship. That’s something that hasn’t been done since I’ve been here. The guys who graduated last year hadn’t done it. The guys who graduated the year before had done it as freshmen. My brother was in that class…and that’s something that is important to me.

Tim Machan and the Bears take on undefeated No.11 Wabash College this Saturday, Oct. 10.

Sophomore Patrick McLean takes a shot in a Sept. 13 game against Rhodes College. McLean is Student Life's Male Athlete of the Week. (Paul Goedeke | Student Life)

Last week, sophomore forward Patrick McLean helped lead the men’s soccer team to wins against both Westminster College and Birmingham Southern College. McLean’s assist Wednesday and game-winning goal Friday were part of an offensive attack in which the Bears outshot their opponents 33-10 over the two games. After tying three of their previous five contests, McLean’s contributions let the Bears put together their first back-to-back wins for the season and earned him recognition as Student Life’s Athlete of the Week.

Student Life: Last week you had one goal and one assist; how does it feel to make an impact on games?
Patrick McLean: Well, it feels pretty good because I did not do anything before that. I really started the season pretty slowly, but as long as we win it really doesn’t matter.

SL: What goes into a successful offensive attack?
PM: A lot of it is lack of the opponent getting ready…A lot of times they’ll give away the ball. Joe [Clarke] always talks about how most goals are scored because of them messing up…you just have to capitalize on the team’s mistakes. I mean, you can create your own opportunities, but it’s not as easy.

SL: What skill of yours are you hoping to improve most this season?
PM: I know I don’t always check to the ball enough, like people step in front of me. And especially when you play forward you need to not get stepped in front of by the defender. It just happens too much…I just have to go and hold them off better.

SL: What was it like to play your first seven games without a loss? In which game do you think the team performed the best?
PM: We didn’t lose, but I thought we were playing pretty badly a lot of those games. I mean, we did not finish teams that we were much better than. We just didn’t score enough goals, but at least we didn’t lose, so it’s a definite positive. As the season went on, we definitely started playing better and better…Birmingham Southern was one of our better games. Because it’s also one of the later games, the team also gets more in sync as we go along.

SL: What’s your biggest pet peeve in soccer?
PM: I would say poor [officiating], except that can also help us in a way…but this season it’s definitely hurt us more, like when we tied that game because the ref called back the goal two minutes later—that was kind of weird.

SL: What’s one thing people would be surprised to know about you or your team?
PM: One thing that Nat [Zenner] likes to say a lot is that…we don’t have any cliques on the team, which helps a lot. There’s no “best friends”…We have really good team chemistry in that everyone feels equal, even the freshmen coming in, like Brian [Wright], I think he feels really good with the team…There are no cliques of separate players.

SL: Do you have a favorite move to get around a defender?
PM: It’s kind of rare, but last year, the guy was to my back, and I just flipped it over my head and his head and ran around. I don’t think he saw where the ball went, so he just stood there. It’s more luck than anything, depending on if they see the ball, but it’s a lot of fun just to try things that a lot of times won’t work but when they do they look really good.

SL: How long have you been playing soccer? Is there anything you learned as a kid that is important at the college level?
PM: I think my parents had me on a team when I was 3—the YMCA. The most important thing, my dad always says, is be aggressive. That’s a huge difference between the kids that just aren’t as good…and just how hard you try honestly because like even kids that still play, if you don’t try as hard, your team is a lot less likely to be successful.

SL: Do your teammates have any nicknames for you?
PM: They actually called me “The Detective” last year because my last name is kind of like John McClane from “Die Hard.” So I’m “The Detective.”
The Bears continue their road trip this Friday in Greenville, Ill., at 4 p.m. against Greenville College.