The University of Idaho Argonaut

Senior midfielder Ashley Perez realized she was good at soccer at a young age, but not before learning of her shortcomings in other sports.

"My whole family is basketball," Perez said. "I tried to play and wasn't as good — I kind of got left out."

Perez's mother, in an effort to find Perez's calling, tried several different sports, including ballet, before settling down on soccer. Perez said she instantly fell in love with the sport, and has fond memories of playing every day and weekend with her father, who was her coach all the way up to high school.

Perez was a five-year member of 3 Rivers club team, and was invited to play with the Washington State Olympic Development Program in 2005. As a senior in high school, Perez was selected to the first all-conference team, and Perez holds the school record for assists.

Perez settled down for the University of Idaho because she loved the school and her teammates. In addition, one of her friends had gone to Idaho and recommended it. Perez said it was nice coming and having a close friend in school already.

"I really liked the school, not too small but not too big," Perez said.

Perez said her freshman year was a crash-course in confidence building and improving on her skills. Perez improved her footwork and speed all the while playing 17 total games as a freshman.

"As a freshman, I was already nervous and scared," Perez said. "I lacked a lot of confidence and some of the skills that would have been good to have."

Perez credits the coaching staff with her improvement. She said she had individual sessions with coach Peter Showler and assistant coach Katie Schoene that focused on footwork and first-touches. Perez said the one-on-one sessions really helped her build her confidence and nimbleness, which Perez later used to dazzle and slip defenders.

"Knowing that they had that trust and they were willing to work with me," Perez said, "that really helped me with my confidence and my game."

While Perez said she was never much of a vocal leader, what she lacks in voice she more than makes up for in spirit and work ethic, Showler said. Early on, Perez said she met with the coaching staff, who asked her to lead by example in her work ethic.

"They (the coaches) asked me to help Sari and Anna by working hard and pushing others to work harder," Perez said.

The hard work paid off, and Perez said the team's mentality and coaching are the two big reasons why the team has been successful this year. In earlier years, there was a real fragmentation with the team, Perez said, but this year everyone came together and bought into the coaching system. The togetherness of the team made for a relaxed atmosphere where every single player worked her hardest, Perez said.

"Everyone had fun this year, whether they were on the bench or on the field," Perez said. "Everyone had passion for the game and everyone is working hard to be on that field."

Perez said it's an exciting time for Vandal's soccer because of the great group of core players, many of whom are freshmen and sophomores. This season has given the younger players a great wealth of experience, Perez said, which will help the team achieve in the future.

Perez will be graduating in May with a degree in Early Childhood Development and Education, but said she will be done with the University of Idaho in December, choosing to take the extra time to student-teach in Washington. After graduation, Perez said she hopes to peruse a graduate degree in Speech Pathology.