Rebecca Rosen ’22 is a rookie on the women’s soccer team, but she played like a true veteran against the College of the Holy Cross last weekend. Playing as a substitute, Rosen made her presence felt on the field, recording two shots and notching the game-winning goal in the 95th minute. Rosen located the ball in a sea of defenders off of a corner kick from midfielder Abby Carchio ’20 and headed it in for the golden goal. Rosen, who hails from Port Washington, New York, helped deliver the women’s soccer team its second win and first overtime victory of the season. For her outstanding performance against Holy Cross, Rosen has been named The Herald’s Athlete of the Week.
Herald: Congratulations on scoring the game-winner! How did it feel to make such a big play as a first-year?
Rosen: It was a really exciting moment, especially for it to be my first goal, and in overtime. It was great to get that win and nice because we had been practicing those set plays earlier over and over in practice. So it was a repeat of that and made (the goal) much easier and much more likely to happen because of that practice and training.
When did you first get involved with soccer?
I have been playing soccer probably since I was three years old. With one of my friends, I used to watch my older sister play. Then, the next year I started and have been playing ever since.
When did you start to think that it would be realistic for you to play college soccer?
My sister was getting recruited for lacrosse, and she was a year older than me. So in her sophomore year, she finally got recruited. Just seeing her going to play in college, I wanted to do the same thing. I’ve always loved soccer and that’s always been my sport, so I joined a club team at the start of my junior year and that was when I started training for colleges and that process.
Why did you choose to play at Brown?
Obviously, part of it is just getting the looks for soccer and the offers. Compared to the other schools that I was looking at, it was the right size of campus and just open possibilities for what I want to study since I’m coming in here undecided. I think it’s just a great place to be.
Do you have any pre-game rituals?
I don’t usually have any, but one of the girls on the team has started braiding my hair. So I feel like that might start as one.
Although you haven’t been at Brown for a long time, what has been your favorite part of being on the team so far?
Probably my favorite part so far has been preseason, when it was just soccer. Women’s soccer was the first team on campus, and you would have summer practices, team lunch, team dinner and hangouts afterward. We would just get to know each other that way. We even got to go to California and stayed in some hotels with roommate and (that) was just a great bonding experience that I think has helped us on the field as well.
What are your personal and team goals for the rest of the season?
Personal goals for the rest of the season are to just keep scoring and keep getting chances (and) maybe get my head on the ball one or two more times. I have not yet started a game either, so maybe to get one or two starts as well. Team goals are to work towards winning the Ivy League and get into the tournament in general.
Do you have any overarching aims for your career with the soccer team?
Not that I know of. I’m just taking it season by season and we’ll see how it goes from there.
The Bears will return to action in a matchup against Ocean State rival University of Rhode Island at Stevenson-Pincince Field Sunday at 1 p.m.
