Senior sacrifice

Seniors Amanda Waugh and Stephanie Martin finished first and second on the soccer team in goals and points the past two years.

Combined, they have four first-team All-Mid-American Conference selections.

However, with the play of thest of the team (14-3-1 overall, 10-0-1 MAC), Waugh and Martin have been coming off the bench since Martin returned from injury Sept. 18 against Detroit.

Coach Tom Anagnost said the current starters have played so well, it has allowed him to bring Waugh and Martin off the bench.

“Especially recently, Chelsi (Abbott) has been brilliant,” he said. “(Laura) Twidle has always been dangerous on the field. Molly (Gerst) is the second-leading scorer and Autumn (Hawkins) has been very dangerous.”

Bench benefits

For Martin, the idea of coming off the bench brings back her freshman year, when she was named MAC Freshman of the Year and led the team with nine goals.

As a freshman, Martin played in all 19 games, but started four of them.

“I did it a lot my freshman year,” she said. “I almost feel a little more comfortable with it because I gain a mental edge over the person I am playing against.”

Martin showed that mental edge Friday against Bowling Green. Within four minutes of entering the game, Martin found sophomore Chelsi Abbott near the six-yard box to give CMU the one goal they needed for the 1-0 win.

Martin said 15 or 20 minutes on the sideline gives her the knowledge of exactly who she is going against on the field and where she can take advantage.

“I get to see the game more instead of getting in there and dealing with the frantic things that go on at the beginning and adjusting,” she said. “I get to see the game played out and see what the strengths and weaknesses of the girls I am going to go against are.”

Waugh said she sees the time on the bench as a way for her to see what her team needs out on the field instead of wondering about the other team.

“For me, it is nice to see the game from an overall perspective for the first 15 or 20 minutes and see how the game is going and what the team needs,” she said. “Then, I can come out as a leader and settle people down if things are a bit crazy or be that spark that they need if people aren’t really into it.”

Waugh has gone from one assist in 10 games, when she started, to two goals and two assists coming off the bench in eight games.

However, Waugh said she looks to herself for more then just goals and assists. Instead, she wants to give the team more of an identity on the field.

“When they see me taking people on and being aggressive, then it makes them do it more often,” Waugh said.

Anagnost said both players bring different ways of attacking the defense, and that causes the opposition’s defense to be constantly under pressure.

“They bring us leadership, composure and different elements in the attack that other teams have to deal with,” he said.