Her resume reads like a virtual who's who of women's soccer. It includes 1996 high school All-American, 1997 Ivy League Rookie of the Year, and 1997 All-Ivy First Team selection. She's played soccer in China and for the United States regional team.
On Monday, however, Dartmouth College women's soccer goalkeeper Kristin Luckenbill '01 was awarded the crown jewel of them all: The Dartmouth's Freshman Athlete of the Term.
Luckenbill certainly was not awarded these merits for nothing: her statistics this season clearly back up her honors. They truly speak for themselves.
She averaged 0.68 goals against average, putting her ninth in the nation and first in the Ivy League.
"Lucky," as her teammates call her, boasted a save percentage for the year of .869, allowing only 11 goals and notching six shutouts.
"I was a little nervous coming in, but once the team had confidence in me, it gave me the confidence I needed," Luckenbill said.
Teammate and Second Team All-Ivy selection Jen Murray '01 gave her perhaps the greatest complement when asked who the best goalie she has faced.
"Probably Lucky in practice. I would rather have her as my goalie than anyone else I have ever seen. She is such a presence in the net," Murray said.
Perhaps the most telling statistic is the fact that only one other goalie has ever garnered the Ivy League Rookie of the Year, and that Harvard team went to the quarterfinals or further three times in that keeper's career.
That can only be good news for Luckenbill and the rest of the youthful Big Green squad as they can put Luckenbill's name in indelible marker on the scorecard under goalkeeper.
"The team is going to be great next year," Luckenbill said. "Everyone knows how young we are."
"We have a great base to build on over the next few years," she added.
As part of that core group of players, Luckenbill looks to improve her game and her team even more.
"The team here has made me a much better player" Luckenbill said. "We had a little taste of the ECACs and we ended up second in the Ivies."
"I'm really looking forward to next year," she added.
"She can only get better and better," an opposing coach noted.
At this rate, you can also write in a zero in the box for the opposing team's score.
