Midfielder Natalie Grein recorded two goals for the Ohio women's soccer team last weekend and was named the Ohio Athlete of the Week. The senior event management major sat down with The Post's Joe Rominiecki to discuss a rocky start to her season, her role as a Bobcat and the finer points of wearing a warm-up jersey.
The Post: Your two goals last weekend enabled Ohio to win its first two games of the season and move into an early lead in the Mid-American Conference. How did that feel?
Grein: It felt great coming back and being able to contribute. Our defense is playing awesome right now. Our midfield, we're having great positioning all over the field. With people getting the ball up, it could have been anyone on our team just finishing the ball. We've been doing good all over the field. I wouldn't have been able to do it without everyone else.
The Post: You mentioned coming back from an injury. What exactly was it that kept you out early this season?
Grein: It was funny because no one knew, really. People were like, It's a rib
or, It's my back or It's a muscle or, I was out of shape. Everything. But I just had a slightly bulged disc that was irritating a bunch of the nerves around it. I've had back problems before, so I get nervous. I was out for seven months my junior year in high school from a herniated disc, so I get really nervous with my back. I just wanted to take it easy until it was healing. I was out of practice for a good two weeks. With our home weekends, I got in about 10 minutes each half, but I was really out of shape.
The Post: Are you back up to 100 percent?
Grein: This is the first time I've been playing without pain. I couldn't even put my neck down for a while.
The Post: Did you expect to be contributing in such a way so soon after returning?
Grein: I wasn't expecting to be playing or starting at all, because I'd been out, but (coach Stacy Strauss) put me in, so I tried to do as much as I could. We have some good players off the bench, which made me want to work harder, too -it makes me nervous. You have a starting position and then it's not there because you've got players that are coming in, players that are improving drastically over the years that I've been playing with them, and I'm not the fastest person in the world -the whole team jokes about my tremendous amount of speed because I'm not fast at all -and they have the speed. It makes me work harder.
The Post: Whenever the team works in intra-squad scrimmages in practice, you wear your warm-up penny with each shoulder band pulled over your head and neck so that the right strap is on your left shoulder, and vice versa. Why is that?
Grein: I hate how they're too big. I ... I just hate it. I cross them both over so that they're tight. I've always done it since I've been in high school. I don't know why. They all make fun of me. And the pennies that I do it with are the bigger ones, not the smaller ones. There are two kinds of yellow pennies, and I hate those ones, because they're too small. I can't cross them over. I beg people to switch with me.
The Post: What's your role on the team, not just as a player, but with the group as a whole?
Grein: I try to keep everyone in a good mood. I joke around a lot. I've been trying a lot this year with not getting frustrated as much, as a senior. I know it was so hard when I was a freshman. You get so much more frustrated, because you know you can play, but you're intimidated, you're frustrated with not playing and you feel like people don't really respect you because you're not playing. It's hard. With the freshman class this year being so big, I've been trying to keep their heads up. As a freshman, you don't have that mental toughness yet. You have aches and pains, and I'm trying to push them that extra mile.
The Post: You created your own specialized studies major in event management. What drew you to that?
Grein: I went to a bunch of music festivals and other big events. I think that planning big events and bringing people together ... I just love bringing people together for a positive thing. It's a natural high. I like being with people. I'm not a person who could be in an office. I'm continuously talking.
The Post: What originally brought you to Ohio University?
Grein: I came here and I just loved the atmosphere, and I liked the team. The team was really awesome. I wouldn't have been able to go to school if it weren't for soccer. I pay for things myself, and so I'd much rather play soccer while I'm doing it.
The Post: This being your senior year, how badly do you want to win the MAC?
Grein: Winning it freshman year was awesome, coming in and being a part of it. We've always wanted to win it every year, obviously, but it hasn't worked out. This year, it's huge. Everyone on our team, especially the seniors -all our seniors start for the first time in a long time -we just want to win so bad. I get so excited when I just talk about it.
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