Oct. 16, 2000
Editor's Note: Articles such as this one by Carroll Fadal appear in each edition of the Baylor Bear Insider Report, available upon membership in the Baylor Bear Foundation. For information on joining the Bear Foundation, click here.
She's come a long way from the awestruck freshman who only appeared in 13 games to one of the Baylor soccer team's most established leaders. And Jenni Eden wouldn't have it any other way.
An outside defender and one of only four seniors still playing, Eden enjoys her expanded role with this young team, both as a bigger scoring threat and as an example for the younger players.
"This is so fun," Eden said. "I love it. I guess just being older, you have people underneath you who respect you. It's kind of a neat feeling, because you take care of them, too. It's a lot of fun, not necessarily knowing it's my last season, but I can put a lot more energy and heart into it because I know that the next few games could be my last.
"MY FRESHMAN YEAR when I came in, I looked up to Molly (Cameron) and Courtney (Saunders) and Nikki (Hales) and I was just like in awe of them. They were the most amazing soccer players I had ever played with, and I thought they were so much older, even though they were only a year older. But I think once I became more a part of the team and more than anything, once I started playing more, I started to fit in more, and that takes away the age gap, even though it's only a year. When you play, the respect level goes up from the other players."
Now, it's Eden and fellow seniors Cameron, Gina Castellano and Dawn Greathouse who command the respect of the 16 freshmen on the BU roster. With such a young team, and one in transition, the seniors have had to step to provide the leadership, both on and off the field. But Eden adds that the enthusiasm the youngsters brought in has helped the Baylor veterans, as well.
"We're a good fit for each other," she said, "because the freshmen came in and brought a lot of energy, which is what we needed after last year. We became more upbeat, and we take that personality out onto the field, and so we play better together, we have more fun together and practices are a lot more intense."
Although her appearance belies it, Eden is one of Baylor's most intense players. Her aggressiveness on the defensive end has helped the Bears hold opposing teams to a goals-against average of just 1.24 going into last weekend's play. And this year, she's become an offensive force as well. In her prior three years, Eden had accumulated only two points, both on assists in the 1999 season.
"I'm tired of just defending all the time," she said. "I'm ready to make a difference offensively. It's a lot of fun to assist and score. Me and T (fellow outside defender Tamura Crawley) talked before the season, and our goal was to score a couple of goals and make lots of assists. I really like taking the ball upfield, especially when I have all the space to run, it's a great feeling."
Eden, who played high school ball at Austin Westlake, said she chose Baylor because she could tell it was a program on the rise.
"Randy (Waldrum) recruited me in September of my senior year," she said, "which was pretty early. I found out how they did against A&M (in the program's inaugural year), and they lost in overtime, and I knew this was a team that's going to be able to do something in the future."
The future came quickly. In Eden's sophomore year, in which she started 16 games, the Bears won the school's first-ever Big XII championship.
With great expectations heading into last year, the Bears underachieved, finishing fourth in the conference and losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament. With so many newcomers, this year's team wasn't burdened with the expectations of last year's, but Eden thinks they might have a chance to do something special.
"We're starting to figure out where we need to be for each player," she said, "and we're also starting to figure out where each player needs to play position-wise. You can just tell in practices, the intensity level and the different things we can do with each other now that we couldn't do before. Our game's getting a lot more complex instead of so simple.
"WE HAVE A tremendous ability level. It all has to do with our mentality level. If we have the confidence as a team, if we go out there and play like Baylor can play, we're unstoppable, and I think everyone can see that. But when we go out there and we're not finishing our opportunities, or we're playing passively, that's when you can tell the game's not in our control. When we're joking around and we're loose, that's when we play well."
Eden has played well all year, and for that, she credits BU assistant Jon Kiester.
"I came in with a lot of confidence," she said. "Jon helped me a lot, and he showed me different things I can do with my game. My game has just improved a lot since my freshman year. Now I know I can go out there and get the job done."
An elementary education major, Eden hopes to teach math to fourth-graders once she earns her Baylor degree. And you can bet she'll do it with intensity.
Editor's Note: Articles such as this one by Carroll Fadal appear in each edition of the Baylor Bear Insider Report, available upon membership in the Baylor Bear Foundation. For information on joining the Bear Foundation, click here.
