Defending the team's chances
This year, Rochelle Jagdeo looks to be a key player on a team gunning for the WAC crown and in the process, became the first ever presearch defensive player for the year
Ryan Tubongbanua / The Collegian
After being named to the all-conference second team last year, junior Rochelle Jagdeo was named the 2005 preseason WAC defensive player of the year. This is the first year the league has handed out that honor. “It was a really big surprise. I didn’t even expect it at all,” Jagdeo said. |
By Kristen Hoverman
The Collegian
After sitting out the first five games of the 2004 season because of an injury, Bulldog soccer player Rochelle Jagdeo was ready for action. Starting in 13 out of 14 games in the season, Jagdeo wasted no time in proving herself an asset to the team and quickly established herself as a key defensive player in the conference. This season Jagdeo shows no chance of letting up.
With perseverance and talent in her favor, Jagdeo recently earned WAC’s first ever Defensive Player of the Year award after the 2005 all-WAC preseason.
The award was voted on by coaches who had nominated the players they saw fit.
“It was a really big surprise,” Jagdeo said. “I didn’t expect it at all. I take it as a really good compliment.”
This was the first time the conference has given the Defensive Player of the Year award.
“In the past they just awarded the preseason player of the year,” said head coach Steve Springthorpe.
In the past the MVP award usually went to an attack player.
“How do you compare an attacking player to a defensive player?” assistant coach Thomas Chestnutt said. “I think it was a good idea, so you’re looking at both sides of the game. Defense is the basis of any attack.”
Out of approximately six defenders, Jagdeo was given the award.
“They’ve recognized her because of her outstanding play last year,” Springthorpe said.
Last year, because of an off season surgery, Jagdeo missed the first games of the season. However, she returned to the Bulldogs with full force.
“She established herself as a starter for us,” Springthorpe said. “People pretty much considered her the best defensive player in the conference.”
Jagdeo plays center back on the field. In this position, she is the organizer and communicator of defensive action when the team is on defense.
After receiving the award, Jagdeo’s name became well known to other coaches, teams and scouts.
“Now people are looking at me.” Jagdeo said. “Pretty much everyone is looking at us as the team to beat up on.”
Chestnutt agrees.
“If you receive the preseason award,” Chestnutt said. “People are going to be looking at you a little closer.”
Jagdeo has been playing soccer for 16 years. She is a second time all-WAC honoree, academic all-WAC selection, WAC scholar athlete, second team All-WAC, Dean’s List recipient and Fresno State scholar athlete. At the awards banquet in April she was named the Bulldog’s Defensive MVP and this season, she is the coaches’ pick to be the Defensive Player of the Year.
“I think she has what it takes,” Chestnutt said. “The opportunity is there.”
The award is a marble plaque that will be given at the end of the season, at the WAC tournament banquet in Boise, Idaho. Roughly 50 defenders and goal keepers in the league are eligible for the award and only one will be chosen.
“I just want to be a better player,” Jagdeo said. “If I get the award, great.”
Jagdeo is a junior at Fresno State from Vacaville, Calif. She is majoring in kinesiology with an emphasis in exercise science. She came to Fresno State on a partial athletic scholarship, but chose the campus overall for other reasons.
“When I came to visit I was kind of in awe of how the school and the community took care of their athletes,” Jagdeo said. “People say hello and they don‘t even know me. That’s hard to find.”
As the Bulldog’s top defender and all-conference pick, Jagdeo is a starting player this season.
“We didn’t start out the season as well as I would have liked,” Jagdeo said. “But we have made a big turning point this last week in practice. I expect us to do well this season.”
Springthorpe agrees. And with Jagdeo anchoring the defense, Springthrope thinks the team will come out of its slump soon.
“We’re struggling a little bit,” he said, referring to their 1-5-0 nonconference record. “We’ve played well in a lot of matches. We have a strong team, the idea is to win the conference.”
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