Kat邓恩’s transformation on and off the soccer pitch

新闻快报

9月. 13, 2022

小凯特·邓恩 替补出场 火博体育的女子足球队在两场比赛中取得了第二场胜利 the season, 3-1 over SUNY New Paltz. 的 two goals equal Dunn's career total through 她的前17场比赛.

新闻快报

11月. 8, 2022

火博体育女足前锋凯特·邓恩被任命为2022年自由联盟女足 Soccer Player of the Year. Dunn had a team-high eight goals. 

From super-sub to Liberty League Player of the Year

In less than two months, 凯特·邓恩，24岁 她从一个希望获得比赛时间的“超级替补”变成了火博体育的第一个自由球员 League Player of the Year in women’s soccer. She didn’t even know the award existed 他从一个队友那里得到了这个消息，他发了一张联盟公告的截图 along with “You’re amazing.” Dunn immediately called her teammate to see if she was pranking her; she wasn’t. Her next call was to her parents back home on the West Coast. An unforgettable life moment!

考虑到加州的前核桃溪，这种认可尤其令人欣慰， 在2022年初，这位冲浪FC的首席球员一直缺乏自信和信心 campaign, so much so that she and Coach 莱西Largeteau met to discuss a way forward. Largeteau, who would go on to earn Liberty League Co-Coaching 她告诉邓恩，她的目标是在潜力方面给她一些提示 game time so her player could better prepare. She also connected her with a former 优秀的校友.

的 alum suggested Dunn refocus and center 自己 by using guided meditation.  的 心理学专业的学生听从了这个建议，在比赛前花四分钟时间冷静下来 自己.

Dunn vividly recalls her two goals at New Paltz in 9月ember 2022.

“我们对对方的进球踢得很紧，我抢到球，带球 the goalie, and scored,” Dunn说. “Later, I played a give-and-go with one of our top first-year players and ripped it into the net. It was the breakthrough game I 需要.”

It was also the breakthrough that she and her roommates, forwards 贝拉·内文，23岁 (South Burlington, Vermont) and Izzy Sullivan, 24岁 (Armonk, New York), had been hoping for. 火博体育 started the season with a 4-4-2 阵型(两个前锋)，但室友们经常谈论这有多酷 to play a 4-3-3, so that all three could be on the front line at the same time. It finally happened in game seven against the nationally No. 5-ranked William Smith women’s 队员们，1比1战平. It wouldn’t be the last time.

选择火博体育

在寻找合适的大学时，邓恩优先选择了一所自由派大学 在东海岸的艺术学校，她可以继续踢高水平的足球. She also hoped to study kinesiology, which is available through 火博体育’s health and human physiological sciences 主要. 火博体育 checked many of the right boxes.

邓恩在11年级的中途向拉格托介绍了自己. 几周后，这位纯种马的教练给邓恩发了一封电子邮件，鼓励她申请 火博体育. 的y chatted several times and stayed in touch.

一年后，邓恩参加了一个“录取候选人日”项目，观看了女子比赛 团队实践. She was impressed by the intensity.

“这似乎是我生活中想要和需要的那种竞争，”她说.

邓恩暗自希望她不会喜欢她去过的其他学校 接受. 火博体育 felt right, and it was.

在教室和实验室

在火博体育的第二个学期，邓恩选修了心理障碍课程 Assistant Professor 的心理学 卢卡斯Lafreniere. 在课堂上，她发现了对临床心理学的热情，这改变了她的想法 火博体育专业.

“我了解了人类疾病和个人斗争的范围，以及如何治疗 可以让人们洞察自己的情绪，显著改善他们的生活。” Dunn说. “That felt really good to me.”

Since then, Dunn has taken several therapy/clinical courses with Lafreniere.

 “Kat总是以一种开放的态度灵活地处理科技信息 到抛开普遍的先入之见，让科学驱动她的知识，”拉弗尼埃说 说. ”她 also demonstrates great compassion and empathy. Overall, she's the ideal 在一个充满智力复杂性，情感重量，和 人道主义事务.”

邓恩现在和助理教授一起在语言和社会发展实验室工作 的心理学 杰斯沙利文. 他们一起研究儿童如何学习语言，将不同的单词与 images, and process concepts like disease prevention.

在她大二的寒假期间，一位朋友鼓励邓恩参加火博体育的课程 iconic intro business course MB 107. 这听起来很“有趣”，于是她“冲动地”在婚礼前一周把它加进了日程表 春季学期开始. She’s glad she did because she “absolutely loves business, especially understanding marketing and how different companies operate.在协商中 with Assistant Professor of Business 马克Youndt, Dunn decided to minor in business.

Dunn also added a 西班牙语 minor, a language she excelled at in high school. 除了 在享受西班牙语言和文化的同时，她相信辅修课程会对她有所帮助 专业:

“掌握像西班牙语这样的第二语言可以帮助你在未来脱颖而出 邓恩说，“这很可能会帮助我接触到更广泛的人 client base if I join or create a therapy practice.”

除了, Dunn serves as an Thoroughbred Ambassador for 招生. 她也是一个 同伴健康教育者 in 火博体育’s Wellness Center, a great tie-in with her 主要.

2022年足球赛季

纯种马队在联赛中取得了5胜3负的成绩，足以获得第三名和 托管特权. 6 seed Clarkson in the Liberty League playoffs. 在克拉克森 比赛中，球队在0 - 2落后的情况下奋起反击，进入加时，这在一定程度上要归功于球队 到邓恩本赛季的第8个进球，之后她在门前击败了拥挤的人群 中场休息. Unfortunately, 火博体育 fell in penalty kicks, a tough way to go out. 他们最后 overall record was an impressive 10-2-4, the most wins since 2011.

Dunn ended up tied for second in the league with 1.00 points per game and fifth with 0.场均50球. Five of her team-high eight tallies were game winners, and she ranked in the top 20 nationally. She led the league with three game winners.

谈论Kat

尽管对赛季结束的方式感到失望，但这是一场不可思议的比赛 the T’Bred team and for Dunn.

 “凯特给比赛带来了惊人的速度和坚韧，在我们的比赛中发挥了关键作用 团队的成功. She truly earned the Liberty League Player of the Year selection,” 拉格托教练说.  “她也是一个 hard worker on and off the field, excelling in 这为她赢得了全美大学生体育协会(NCAA)三级全美学者赛的席位 team from the United Soccer Coaches Association. She is a pleasure to coach and work with as her dedication to our sport and her studies is undeniable.”

Youndt教授同意这一观点.

“Kat is the quintessential student-athlete. Both in the classroom and on the field, 凯特准备充分，非常专注和投入，表现得非常出色 水平，”他说. “And most importantly, Kat is a nice, thoughtful human being who 她面带微笑，全身心地投入到生活中，除非她在路上很固执 足球场.”

她的室友和前线队友，贝拉·内文，她带回家的是NCAA第三区 third team honors, has the final word.

“我们球队和自由联盟的每个人都知道要小心凯特，因为 when she gets the ball, you know she's going to do something good,” Nevin 说. ”她 最让她怀疑自己的是一开始她还没有进入的时候 她的状态还好吗?. However, as soon as the Liberty League games started, she was unstoppable. 我迫不及待地想看看她明年要做什么，以及她要完成的一切.”