Though forward Jamie Holliday is just a freshman, she has already made her mark as a Bearcat. With team highs in goals, shots, points and assists, Holliday has proved that she is a force to be reckoned with. But beyond the statistics, it is Holliday’s commitment to her craft that makes her such a strong competitor for the women’s soccer team. Whether she is working on drills during practice or dominating offensively on the field, Holliday’s attitude doesn’t change: Her goal is to help her team to win, and she will do whatever it takes to achieve her goal.
When Holliday was eight years old, she decided to take up soccer because she thought it looked like fun, despite her mother’s insistence that it was a “boy’s sport.” She played on a travel team for a while, where her love for the sport grew, and by the time high school rolled around, she wasn’t ready to stop.
“When I got into high school,” Holliday said, “I started playing and I absolutely loved it. I’ve been playing for a lot of years now, but I love it, and high school was a great four years for me. We were section champs four years in a row.”
Holliday was a team captain, as well as a two-time MVP at Maine-Endwell High School. She is also fourth on her high school’s scoring list with 90 scored goals in her four years on the team.
With those numbers, Holliday knew that she was going to continue to play soccer in college; the question was, which school. The question was not a particularly difficult one, as Holliday grew up in Apalachin, N.Y., just minutes away from Binghamton University, where she said she would visit often to watch the Bearcats play.
“Being a local, I’ve always watched the Binghamton team,” Holliday said. “As a little girl I came here and watched them and thought they were great. But with Binghamton, the academic [program] is one of the biggest things I came here for. It’s a great school, and I’m really proud to be a Bearcat.”
After coming to Binghamton, she immediately impressed head coach Sarah McClellan with her attitude towards the game. She came into preseason in shape and ready to prove that she was willing to commit herself to the team.
“I was really pleased with how she came into preseason,” McClellan said. “She came in fit and had a willingness to be coached, which helped her take it to the next level. And I think because of that she was able to improve her mental toughness, and certainly was able to perform well against some good teams and was able to really score for us.”
As soon as the season began, Holliday was instantly put to the test. She started in the first game of the season, and although the Bearcats did not win, Holliday did manage to log her first shot attempt. In fact, for the team’s first four games — in which Binghamton was shut out — Holliday was the only player to have shot attempts in all the games. It is this sort of drive that brought her to the top of the team.
With Holliday in tow, as well a whole host of other newcomers, such as Emily Pape, Lisa Campbell and Alyssa Staubitz, it is hard to ignore the impact all the young players have made on the team. McClellan is quick to point out that the interaction between the older players and the new players adds to the team’s success.
“Our young players are doing a good job,” McClellan said. “Our older players are teaching them. They have a good understanding now on the field of whose strengths are what and where to play the ball. So all our players collectively are doing a great job on the field … I think they’ve handled the pressure well, and I feel that our upperclassmen have made them feel welcome and feel that it’s OK to perform well, and I think that that’s what gave them the comfort level that they needed to go out and get it done.”
As the 2009 season progressed, it seemed that Holliday got better with every game. She scored her first collegiate goal in just her fifth start against Niagara, and scored twice two games later. Even if Holliday wasn’t scoring in a game, she was feeding passes and trying to get assists, and if she wasn’t doing that, she was always making shot attempts to try to push herself and her team to the next level. With her determination and winning numbers, it is sometimes easy to forget she is still a freshman. But Holliday doesn’t get headstrong.
“It feels really good,” Holliday said about being a newcomer. “Stepping on the field and just doing whatever I can to help out the team, it’s really huge. I think however I can contribute to the team is my role, and I really like it.”
More than just Binghamton fans are taking notice of Holliday. She was named America East Rookie of the Week in mid-September, and was named to the conference All-Rookie Team. With two game-winning goals already under her belt, Holliday has faced the pressure of the college game, and come out on top. And with three more years left to play, she can only keep improving. Holliday’s commitment to being the best truly shows when she discusses how she wants to move forward with her play.
“I can [still] improve on consistency and just trying to play my absolute best in every single game, and not just have one or two standout games but be consistent in every single game,” Holliday said.
It seems that after a first season in which she led the team in most statistics, Holliday has established herself as a crucial part of the women’s soccer program. Her hard work on and off the field and the way she attacks every game to bring her team to the top indicates that she will only keep getting better. It is not a coincidence that the program’s best conference record came the same season as the appearance of a new and tough freshman. This past season can only make one excited for what’s to come, and McClellan is looking forward to it.
“She had a good first season,” McClellan said of Holliday. “I was happy with how she responded to the college game, but I definitely think there are so many things she can still improve on and there is such a long way for her to go, and it’s something for us to look forward to. She’s just at the tip of the iceberg of her potential.”