The Graduate
Melinda Curran is doing something very few college athletes get to do.
While she is listed as a senior on the team’s roster, Curran needed just three years to obtain her four-year degree in psychology last May.
Despite graduating in May, she will return to play for the Chippewas for her fourth and final year of eligibility.
“I really just wanted to finish what I started,” said Curran, the team’s goalkeeper. “My class is still here and the people I came in with are still here, and I want to finish and take advantage of it.”
Curran recorded seven of CMU’s eight wins last season, and coach Cristy Freese said she knows having her starting goalkeeper for one more year will play a vital role to the season’s outcome.
“It is huge for us. It is like Butch (Jones) having Dan (LeFevour),” Freese said. “Goalkeepers are a very important position for a team. There is the leadership factor with her; she has seen a lot of the situations, and that experience will allow her to direct her defense with a lot of confidence.”
Curran, along with Kahla Schwall, make up the senior duo at goalkeeper for the Chippewas again this year. Both players are small by the traditional standards of the goaltender position, but Curran learned some ways to make up for her lack of size.
“One thing Mel does is she comes out a little further and makes herself bigger,” Freese said. “I watched a lot of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and they talked about why Chris Osgood was so good, and that was because he was always coming out and not being caught back in the cage. If you’re small, you can’t be caught any deeper in the cage because you are just making yourself smaller.”
Off the field
Curran has been a National Field Hockey Coaches Association’s All-Academic team selection each of her three seasons. Her play on the field earned her all-tournament honors in the Mid-American Conference last season en route to a semifinals birth last year for CMU.
After the season, Curran said she wants to go to graduate school and plans to use the time from this season to find the best fit for her.
“I respect her for coming back because I know she could have left and gone to grad school somewhere else,” senior Kim Erasmus said. “It is very important to be getting her back. I have all the confidence in the world in Mel and I think having her back is the most key factor for our team this season.”
Curran went 7-7 last season with a 2.08 goals against average. The field hockey team starts its season Sept. 4 against Colgate in Hamilton, N.Y.
