Sophomore Sophie Viscovich scored three goals during the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, including two in the 5-1 win over Simpson College. (Alan Knight | Multimedia Editor)

Sophomore Sophie Viscovich has had a successful soccer career at WashU so far, being named as an All-UAA Honorable Mention in both of her first two collegiate seasons. This season alone, she has scored five goals, three of which came in the Bears’ first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, and made seven assists. Viscovich studies finance in the Olin School of Business and is the sister of Anna Viscovich, who also played soccer at WashU and graduated in the spring of 2024. Student Life sat down with Sophie Viscovich to discuss how she was introduced to soccer, her time on the WashU women’s soccer team, and her life outside the game.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

Student Life (SL): What was it like to play with your sister on the team last season?

Sophie Viscovich (SV): It was super special. With age group and club differences, we never got to be on the same team or even play against each other [before]. It was really nice knowing I had her right behind me when she played defensive mid; if I made any mistakes, she would be there to help me. It was a super fun and special experience that not a lot of people get to have and made my transition to WashU a little bit easier. 

SL: Now that she has graduated, how has this season been different without her?

SV: I miss playing with her on the field, but I know she’s watching the game from home if she’s not there in the stands. I get long texts from her every time we have a game. It’s different on the field, but I think just still being able to feel that support off the field is something that won’t ever go away while I’m playing. 

SL: Jumping back in time, when did you start playing soccer? How did you get into it?

SV: My dad played Division I soccer for the College of William and Mary, so he introduced the game to me and my sister at a young age. Because my sister’s three years older than me, she was a little bit more into it by the time I started playing. I think I was just the classic younger sister wanting to do whatever the older sister does, so [I] kept it up and found that it was something I was pretty good at. 

SL: What made you stick with soccer specifically? 

SV: I think just the creative aspect. I’m a midfielder, so lots of dribbling, shooting, passing, [it] pretty much allows you to do anything. And I think just my skills: I was good at soccer and it’s more fun to do something when you’re good at it. My whole extended family loves soccer, so being able to connect with my family through the sport kept me in it. 

SL: Was there a point when you realized that you wanted to go to college for soccer, or did it just happen naturally when you saw your sister commit? 

SV: Growing up playing club soccer, I saw a lot of kids commit and thought, “I want to do that when I’m older.” Probably during freshman year of high school I realized that this was what I wanted to do. Watching my sister commit as well as my other older teammates from my club, and the fact that I didn’t want to stop playing soccer and couldn’t imagine my life without it, helped me decide that this was something I wanted to pursue. 

SL: What inspired you to seek out playing college soccer?

SV: My dad was a big part of it, just wanting to make him proud as a parent and as a soccer player is something I’ve always tried to do through the sport. And then also, I’ve had a lot of supportive coaches growing up. I had a futsal coach when I was younger, he’s a big coach in California now, but he always had a lot of confidence in me. And he actually just texted me the other day saying, like, “I always believed in you, like you’re doing so awesome.” He played a big part in growing my confidence as a player and kind of looking to that next level.

SL: What contributed to your decision to commit to WashU?

SV: My sister really did change my perspective on college soccer. Going into my sophomore and junior years of highschool, I was pretty dead set on the idea of playing D-I soccer. But watching my sister and WashU’s team play, as a fan of hers, I realized, “Wow, this team is better than a lot of D-I teams I’m looking at.” And I think that flipped a switch for me, knowing that I could play at a school that was really good at soccer, but also had so much more to offer than soccer. When I visited Anna, I realized how amazing the school was and [that I] should consider WashU as an option. So, then I just started talking to the coach, and I think it really came down to seeing what the balance is like at WashU with such a strong soccer team.

Viscovich dribbles down the pitch in the 2023 Division III National Championship. (Clara Richards | Student Life)

SL: Could you walk me through your thought process during a typical game? You had a bunch of assists in the beginning of the season, and now, you’ve transitioned to be a key goalscorer for the team. What has contributed to this change? 

SV: One of the biggest things on our team is ensuring everyone is carrying out their own roles for each game. A couple of days before each game, we make game plans where Coach will assign someone something they should focus on. For example, if there’s a really good defensive mid on the other team, he’ll say, “Soph, your job in this game is to not let their defensive mid turn or connect to the other side of the field.” During a game, my thought process is really just focusing on pursuing my role and how I can help contribute to our team’s success. At the beginning of the year, my role was more to stay in the middle of the field and facilitate. My role now has shifted to more movement on the field. My coach wants me and the forwards to play free, so I think being able to switch in and out with our forwards has put me in some good goal-scoring opportunities. My teammates are doing the great work to get me the ball, and just trusting that I’ll be where they need me to be.

SL: What team goals and personal goals have you set for the season, and which ones are you still working on?

SV: Every year, our team starts out with a goals pyramid. We sit in the locker room, just the team, no coaches, and it’s just an open floor, anyone can put anything up there. So we start with individual and team goals that are smaller things such as “five minutes early is on time” — all these little things that we want to set as our standard for our success. So one of our first goals every season is “undefeated on Francis,” our home field, which we completed during the regular season. Winning the UAA is also one of our goals every single season. After that, it’s the postseason, where we start back again at 0-0. Getting to that final four, we like to say it’s three two-game tournaments. We go one game at a time, so just really focusing on each two-game tournament to get to the Final Four and then ultimately the National Championship, which is our top goal.

SL: When you’re not doing soccer or in classes, what are you doing?

SV: I love hanging out with my friends. There’s ten of us in my recruiting class for the soccer team, which is pretty big. We’re really close friends so even when we’re not at soccer, we’re with each other off the field, especially since we all live together in two apartments right next to each other in Millbrook. Anna Rosato, who is one of my roommates and teammates, is a really good cook. She’s Italian, so we’ve been learning to cook lots of pasta and chicken through her and we’ll be cooking more this off-season now that we have a kitchen. My parents also like to visit a lot, so I enjoy hanging out with my family and dog or visiting my sister in Chicago this summer. 

SL: Is there anything that I didn’t ask that you feel like is worth mentioning?

SV: I think the WashU soccer team just has a culture like no other school I’ve ever seen. I think there’s just something so special about the WashU soccer team culture and the family that’s been created through it that just makes anyone feel welcome. If you make a mistake, no one’s going to get mad. I think that’s what contributes to our success the most is having that family and trusting each other and being able to play freely with each other, and honestly, just have fun — we play well when we have fun. Also, the level of closeness and familiarity we have is very beneficial on the field because we can all be serious and have fun at the same time. We all have the mindset of “I’m gonna play my best and try my hardest so that I can make my teammate a better player,” which has contributed to our success. 

SL: This question is one that we ask every Athlete of the Week. Would you rather have fish for hands or adopt a child every time you hear the song “Bohemian Rhapsody”? 

SV: My gosh, this is a hard one. Probably “Bohemian Rhapsody.” I think I’ve only ever heard that song once, which means I’d probably adopt a child. Because I watched the movie once and that was it. That’s a hard question.

2024-2025 Athlete of the Week Tracker: Adopt a Child 1. Fish for Hands 1.