Oct. 16, 2000

EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - Ashley Wesmiller has had quite a career at Lafayette. As a Marquis and McKelvey scholar she earned a 4.0 in electrical engineering last year, volunteered at the Coach for Kids floor hockey program at the Easton YMCA in the spring and played in every minute of every game in goal for the women's soccer team last fall. She set a Lafayette single-season record with five shutouts in goal and registered 10 or more saves in three or more games for the 7-9-1 Leopards.

And last year was only her freshman year.

This season, Wesmiller seems to have picked up where she left off as the anchor of the Lafayette defense and one of three team captains, helping the Leopards to a 8-6-0 record so far, recording three shutouts and starting all 14 games.

Yet she has goals of her own that are more important than individual accolades on the soccer field. "I want to help this team win the Patriot League title and that's all I'm aiming for on the field," Wesmiller commented. "But focusing on my schoolwork is just as important and I work hard at making academics and athletics fit. I want to be able to stay at the top of my engineering class so I can put my technical degree to use in a business or law career, but I also want to keep improving in the goal."

There should be no confusion over the determination of Wesmiller, who came to Lafayette for the combination of athletic and academic competition. "Academically, she is tremendously gifted and it seems to come naturally to her so she brings that intelligence onto the soccer field and into the goal with her," said women's head soccer coach Wayne Miller.

"She puts in a lot of time on her own to make herself better in goal and she was recognized for that by being named a captain this season," he continued. "Being a captain is a huge responsibility and takes a lot of dedication, so to see her getting the kind of grades she makes on top of all that, it's just amazing."

`Amazing' would describe Wesmiller's whole attitude about being a student athlete at Lafayette. A native of Pittsburgh, she started playing soccer when she was three years old and started playing goalie when she was 14. She was a WPIAL All-Star at Mt. Lebanon High School, where she posted 47 shutouts during her career. She was also member of the Pennsylvania West ODP championship team.

Yet when it came to choosing a career path and a college at which to pursue that path, soccer was not the first thing on her mind.

"I always loved math and physics in high school and I wanted to look for a place that had majors combining the two areas," Wesmiller said. "I decided on electrical engineering and Lafayette is the place for that, so the soccer program here was just an added bonus to that formula. It just seemed like a good fit."

A tough transition from high school soccer to the collegiate level of play was something Wesmiller expected as a freshman at Lafayette. It was expected but not experienced as she was one of nine freshmen who got the starting nod from Miller last season.

"The transition from high school to college was easier for me last year as a member of that freshman class," she said. "We were all going through the same changes together and we didn't really have time to think about being the newcomers because we were the majority. It was probably easier for us because we all became such close friends and we pulled together to be a major force on the team."

Wesmiller finished her first season with a 1.36 goals against average and a .805 saves percentage. Yet it is the team's statistics she is more concerned about during her sophomore campaign. She has set her sights on the Patriot League title and she believes the strength of this year's team, boasting five freshmen and five sophomore starters, is a huge step toward that title.

"The difference between our team this season as opposed to last season is that we're controlling games now rather than just trying to hold on," she said. "We may have lost to Brown this season (1-0) but they were nationally ranked and we were able to hold them to only one goal. We're not about to just let people roll through us."

And Wesmiller's coach believes there won't be many balls rolling past her during her career at Lafayette. "Our team tries to play well and intense in front of Ashley," Miller said. "She anchors our defense and she has such a commanding presence and ability beyond the goal area, so it's comforting to know she is in goal for us."