The saying goes, "Don't mess with Texas." As this soccer season has progressed, more and more teams are learning that.
Anna-Lesa Calvert, a native of Dallas, has been shutting down opposing offenses and giving the Bulls their best opportunities to win. And of course, a soccer team's best opportunity to win is when they only have to score one goal to do it.
"Any time we can record a shutout then that's almost definitely a win, when we only have to put one ball in the net," said Calvert.
Calvert shut out four teams in 2002 and three more in 2003. She has already met her 2003 total this season after shutting out Central Michigan on Sunday, and she's looking for more.
"I want to have more shutouts then I ever had before, so six or eight," she said.
But just shutting down the opposition isn't enough for Calvert; she has very lofty post-season goals.
"I want to make the All-MAC team." Calvert said. "But my biggest goal is to host one of the MAC quarterfinal games here at UB."
She believes that the team has its best opportunity to do so since she's been here and so far it has shown. After opening this season with four straight losses, the Bulls are 3-1 with 10 goals, and each of those wins was a shut out victory for Calvert.
So just how does a country girl from Texas end up in the frozen tundra of Buffalo?
"Originally I wanted to work for the FBI, so I wanted to go to a school up north, closer to the training areas," said Calvert. "I also figured that it's four years, I can try something new, and if I don't like it, it's just four years and then I can go home.'"
Calvert has also made a great adjustment from the heat in Texas to the snow in Buffalo.
"I like the weather actually," she said. "Come March though, I'm ready for the snow to be gone."
While Calvert listens to the music most people would expect a southern girl to listen to -- Tim McGraw, for example -- her pre-game ritual consists of a very different musical score: "The Phantom of the Opera."
"That was a tradition my mom and I started in high school," Calvert explained. "My family loves musicals, and we went to our state tournament one year, and we listened to "Phantom of the Opera", and I just had a great state tournament. It was always the same set of songs. Now, it's changed a little bit and I put it on in my apartment before I leave for games."
So far this year, Calvert has shut out three different teams; two of them were Mid-American Conference rivals. The biggest moment of the year for her came this past Sunday against Central Michigan.
Though the Bulls led 2-0 near the end of the first half, the Chippewas were threatening. UB's defense allowed the Chippewas to make a nice pass in front of the net. A good shot was taken, but Calvert made a diving save to stop the goal.
"Central Michigan was pushing really hard, and they kept saying, 'Let's get one before half, let's get one before half,' and I was thinking, 'no, no one's getting one before half,'" Calvert said.
Lo and behold, she was able to appear like a phantom and stop the Central Michigan threat.
The next time Calvert and the Bulls will be in action is going to be Friday, Sept. 24, against Ball State, and the next time you'll be able to see her at RAC Field will be Friday, Oct. 15.
Five Random Questions
1) Q: What do you think of the names of UB's athletic sites?
A: "I want to one day donate a bunch of money, and we're going to change it, it's not going to be RAC field. RAC field just doesn't stand out. Like, we go to other schools, like Bowling Green is Cochran Stadium-- it just sounds cool. I haven't thought of a name yet, but I don't want to name it Tex Stadium.
2) Q: Is it soda or pop?
A: "Neither, it's Coke. I'm from Texas and everything is Coke. They ask you what you want, you say Coke, and they say what kind of Coke, and then you can say Sprite or Dr Pepper. It doesn't matter. It's all Coke, so no one is right, you're all wrong."
3) Q: Who's the funniest person on the team?
A: "I think Ashley (Turner), one of our freshmen; I have never met a girl who makes me laugh as much as she does. Ashley is just hilarious."
4) Q: Who do you pick on the most?
A: "Probably Brenna (McJury). She's my roommate and one of my closest friends, so it's really easy to pick on her."
5) Q: In high school, you played on a club soccer team called the "D'Feeters." How did that name come about?
A: "The 'D'Feeters' were established in 1979, it's been around for a long time. The 'D'Feeters' called me to come play with them, and I did, because they were good and one of my best friends was on the team. It had nothing to do with the name. We had green as our primary color, and we had feet everywhere."
