University of North Texas Athletics
Green Gang: Hedlund's Found Another One
8/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Return to Play
By Steven Bartolotta, August 27, 2010, 11:48 p.m.
Three games into the season and it appears he's done it again. It looks like John Hedlund has struck gold with another super freshman in Kelsey Hodges. Six goals, 12 points, and all in just three games. I bet she didn't think D-I soccer was going to be this easy because it's not suppose to be.
Hedlund has built this program on freshman, really good freshman. If you look through the years starting in 1997 here's the list. Freshman All-American's: Christy Johnson (1997), Gina Turner (1998), Marilyn Marin (2000). Soccer Buzz All-Freshman Team: Kelli Lunsford (2005), Kendall Juett (2006), Janaye Woods (2007), and Kelsey Perlman (2009). And for good measure Sun Belt Freshman of the Year: Marilyn Marin (2000), Heather Hutyra (2005), Kelli Lunsford (2005), and Janaye Woods (2007).
Makes you wonder if Hedlund should just build a team of true freshman. The success has been remarkable and Hodges appears to be the next in a very, very, very long line of freshman.
The really cool part that makes me nearly giddy as her stats though is she's a local kid. I'm not talking DFW, we are talking Denton, America. She was born in Denton, went to school in Denton, and graduated from Guyer High School and is now playing for the local team.
That's how it's done in the world of recruiting, and to Hedlund's credit he does it better than anyone else. He can find the needle in a haystack, the diamond in the rough, or the stud everyone has to have. It what he does best. He's my recruiting Santa Claus.
It took Hodges just three games to duplicate a feat that hadn't been done in 14 years, or the length of time between Dallas Cowboys playoff wins.
Hodges is just barely into the start of her collegiate career, but it appears that she's got the DNA of so many other soccer brethren to come before her.
