Sports

20 Questions with women’s soccer senior Shannon Keefe

The Boston University women’s soccer team (2-5-1) has been doing some home cooking. Not only have they won two straight games at Nickerson Field, but they also performed well on the defensive end, something BU head coach Nancy Feldman believed the team really needed to work on following the last time they lost a game against the University of Connecticut.

To get an inside look at a veteran member of this upward-trending club, senior forward Shannon Keefe sat down to discuss her fourth year under head coach Nancy Feldman, how she feels about the importance of her team believing in themselves, her pregame superstitions and more. The New Jersey native also weighs in on the classification of an infamous type of Garden State meat.

 

  • What initially attracted you to attend BU?

 

I had family that’s in the South Shore …  and I came to Boston growing up. I really wanted to be in a city, but I also wanted a school that was academically really strong and athletically really strong so I thought that it was a very good fit for me. And being in the city is so great too, it’s close enough but not too close. 

 

  • What do you hope to do once you graduate after this year?

 

I’m trying to figure that out. Grad school’s definitely in the question, I think I’m gonna go home probably over the summer and try and figure it out, but I do want to stay in Boston, I just can’t get enough of it.

 

  • How has it been to play under a seasoned head coach like Nancy Feldman?

 

She is just such an amazing coach, she is so for the players and she really just wants them to succeed not only on the field but in life. Twenty-five years [as head coach] is a long time so she definitely knows her stuff and my relationship with her freshman year is totally different and had evolved. It’s great.

 

  • Do you enjoy playing sports other than soccer?

 

I played lacrosse and basketball in high school. We have an intramural basketball team with all the [women’s soccer] girls in the winter.

 

  • So, do you have any pregame superstitions?

 

I drink a Celsius before every game, which is a healthy, fit energy drink.

 

  • Do any other teammates share this superstition? 

 

A lot of girls on the team drink them. [Kelly Park] and [Chloee Sagmoe] got me hooked on it … we also got [Emma Heil] hooked once.

 

  • What is your pregame meal?

 

It depends. If we have a 1 o’clock or 2 o’clock game we go to T-Anthony’s for every home game. I get a ham and cheese omelet for breakfast, plain and simple. Most people [on the team] get omelets or a bacon egg and cheese [on a bagel]. For later games in the afternoon, we get chicken, penne and broccoli and some kind of wrap.

 

  • How about your postgame meal?

 

Postgame meals depends. When we’re at home, it’s kind of on our own or if coach gets us Chipotle, on the road it’s usually some kind of sandwich or pizza shop, like something we can grab on our way back to the bus or to the hotel.

 

  • Are there certain foods that you try to avoid or shut out of your diet when you know game time is coming soon?

 

Not really, some people can’t eat close to game time, but I’m totally opposite, I can eat pretty much anything. I used to eat burgers right before I had club games so nothing really affects me.

 

  • What is your favorite food to snack on during long bus rides during road trips?

 

I really want to say something healthy, but it’s definitely Hershey Kisses, Pringles, or something to keep me snacking because I’m so bored on the bus.

 

  • Do you have a cheat food?

 

Not really, I’m kinda like an eat anything kind of girl.

 

  • Do you prefer coffee, tea or neither?

 

Coffee.

 

  • Do you have a preference for a place to get a brand of coffee/tea/water/thirst quencher?

 

Dunkin’. Iced coffee with caramel and almond milk. I go to the Dunkin’ in Stuvi I.

 

  • What’s your restaurant of choice at the GSU?

 

Panda Express for sure. I like the orange chicken … fried rice and the honey walnut shrimp.

 

  • What have you always been excited to see on the menu at the dining hall?

 

I love lobster night … I was so sad this year when we had a game on the night of lobster night and we missed it, it was my last one! ‘90s night at West Campus is also good.

 

  • As a New Jersey native, have you felt any differences between the quality of food from New Jersey versus the quality of food in Massachusetts?

 

Seafood wise yes, they have unreal clam chowder up here and they’re really well known for it. Everytime my dad is in town we go and get lobster because it’s ridiculously expensive and I love lobster.

 

  • New Jersey is well known for having quality bagels. What do you like to have on your bagels?

 

Taylor Ham egg and cheese, no salt and pepper. I actually have my parents bring Taylor Ham, it’s in my freezer.

 

  • Is New Jersey’s infamous meat known as Taylor Ham or Pork Roll?

 

It’s Taylor Ham! [I live] north of the [Garden State] Parkway, so we’re Taylor Ham, and then there’s that really small grey area that calls it either-or, but then everyone in South [New Jersey] calls it Pork Roll.

 

  • What was your favorite family home-cooked meal you ate growing up?

 

I liked chicken parm a lot. My dad also made really good steak and potatoes.

 

  • Feldman told me after the big win against Northeastern that the team is coming up with more belief in themselves and each other. What does that mean to you?

 

I think the team all has to have a lot of confidence. I think it helps to have two rookies score their first goals in games, and I think it gave the team the confidence we need. [Feldman] said that we’re going up fast and we don’t have a lot of upperclassmen and it’s definitely crucial right now as we’re getting into the Patriot League this weekend, it’s hard when you are playing these games, when we played Denver, when we played Colorado, when we played Princeton, these are all teams we lost to or got a tie from.

It’s hard to keep believing when you’re not getting the results you want and are working so hard for, but I think this team — especially given how young we are — we are so set on trusting the process and believing in ourselves and believing in Coach and I think it’s really going to start to show in the next couple of games and I’m really excited for it.






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2 Comments

  1. Fantastic article. Loved reading it.

  2. Love it – hometown Basking Ridge Pride!