Haycook, La Salle eye another soccer title

SUNDAY MARKED the last regular-season game for senior forward Kelsey Haycook, the most prolific goal scorer in La Salle women's soccer history.

Haycook, a native of Point Pleasant, N.J., is the school recordholder in both career goals (58) and points (138). She and the fellow members of the team's senior class have revitalized coach Paul Royal's program, as the No. 1-seeded Explorers begin their quest for a third straight Atlantic 10 championship at 11 a.m. today against eighth-seeded Massachusetts in the conference tournament at Dayton, Ohio.

Before Haycook's arrival on campus in the fall of 2011, the Explorers had made the A-10 Tournament just once in the previous four seasons. La Salle is now on the verge of a fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, considering the way Haycook has racked up goals.

All of that scoring has put the blue-and-gold spotlight on her, but Haycook is quick to mention how the entire senior class and her coaches have played into La Salle's recent string of A-10 titles.

"It's just a testament to how Paul [Royal] has molded the program, where he wants it to be with getting better every year," Haycook said. "I think especially with our [senior] class coming in, we wanted that for the team and wanted it for each other our freshman year. I think every year we've wanted to push it further and further, and that's why we've been successful."

Haycook was named a semifinalist for the 2014 Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy, an award presented annually to NCAA Division I soccer's best male and female players. Haycook, the A-10's leader in goals (18) and points (39) this season, is one of the 15 female semifinalists for the trophy.

She has been named the Atlantic 10 offensive player of the year, all-conference and academic all-conference. The Explorers are 12-4-2 and have won eight consecutive games. Other Explorers honored by the A-10 are Kerri Aiken (defensive player of the year) and first-team all-conference picks Maryam Huseini, Paige McDowell and Jessica Wiggins.

Royal was selected coach of the year for the third time.

Haycook's soccer dreams will not end with her La Salle career. She noted that she'll continue playing competitively as long as she possibly can and that she would attempt to play professionally.

Haycook, an academic All-American with a 3.7 GPA, has the skills off the pitch to set herself up career-wise even without playing. She said she is currently in the process of applying to physical therapy schools to continue her education. That physical therapy path would bring Haycook to the intersection of sports, medicine and health, an obvious career destination for such an accomplished student-athlete.

"I was a nursing major to begin with," Haycook said. "I just like the interaction between people within that. I want to be able to help athletes."

Should La Salle defeat Massachusetts today, the Explorers will advance to the semifinals tomorrow. The title game is Sunday.