For Immediate Release
November 18, 2011
Courtesy of the Hampton Union, Written by Steve Craig
On the soccer field this year, Hampton's Kasey Morrison was like a well-trained illusionist for the Southern New Hampshire University women's soccer team. A step ahead of the audience and able to deliver a big finish.
"She's magical," So. New Hampshire head coach Terry Prouty said of her junior midfielder and leading goal-scorer. "Kasey's not that speedster that has that flashiness that catches your attention but she's always in the right spot. She knows where to be and when to be there. She's already there because she knows where to be."
After seeing limited time with limited effectiveness her first two seasons for the Penmen, Morrison scored a team-high eight goals along with two assists for a Division II squad that went 10-8-2 and reached the semifinals of the highly competitive Northeast-10 for the first time since its 2003 NCAA tournament team.
"Our team becoming much more of a family this year helped us a lot and we could read each other well," said Morrison, 20, a 2009 graduate of Winnacunnet High School. "What it came down to was putting the ball away in the net and, I don't know, I just did it."
That Morrison played well was not a hoax. As Prouty said, "we knew when recruited her just how good she was." Morrison, the daughter of Winnacunnet junior varsity coach Linda Morrison, was instrumental in raising Winnacunnet soccer back to a level of competitiveness and gained 10 years of club experience with Seacoast United.
The real magic is that Morrison is playing at all. As a junior in high school she suffered two fractures of her L5 vertebrae in her lower back due initially to an injury on a North Carolina soccer field during a summer tournament. Today she still has "a tear in one of the lumbar things," she said.
"I've had numerous doctors tell me I have to stop playing," Morrison said. "That's not an option. I can't stop playing. I got here for soccer and I worked my butt off and finally achieved what I wanted and I'm going to go with it and I'm going to win."
Morrison and Prouty both knew the back injury limited Morrison's effectiveness in her freshman (11 games, three starts) and sophomore (17 games) seasons. In two seasons she had one goal on four career shots.
Just before the start of the 2011 campaign, Morrison suffered an injury to her quadriceps. That just made her more determined.
"After that, I just decided, I love this sport way too much to keep sitting on this bench and not showing what I had," Morrison said.
Morrison finished with two game-winning goals and also had a two-goal game against Bentley in a 4-4 tie. She combined with seniors Ariel Teixeira (six goals, 12 assists) andEmily Donahue (four goals, five assists) and sophomore forward Ashley Jaskula (six goals, two assists) to provide most of the offense for the Penmen, who went 7-6-2 in league play.
At season's end, Teixeira was named a First Team Northeast-10 player and SNHU defenders Emily Mongeau and Daniela Abruzzese were second- and third-team picks, respectively.
Morrison did not receive any postseason accolades. She says she's OK with that, even used to being a player who is "always on the backburner." Her motivation and drive come from sources much closer to home.
If Morrison could change history she would gladly give up her time as a senior captain at Winnacunnet. That honor was supposed to be Lara Bunce's, a life-long friend and soccer teammate. Bunce died in her sleep June 11, 2008.
"It hit the whole town hard," said Morrison, adding she "loved" that several members of this year's Warrior squad still had the Number 15 patch on their jerseys in honor of Bunce. "That fall was our next soccer season and that was really tough for all of us."
Winnacunnet went 13-5 in 2008 and advanced to the Class L quarterfinals with Morrison scoring 15 goals with 18 assists.
"We actually went the furthest we had in a long time," Morrison said. "Lara was there. She helped us out there."
Morrison "constantly" wears two bracelets and before each game she covers the bracelets with gauze and athletic wrap. One is for Bunce. The other is for her father, Terence "Terry" Morrison.
"On my left one it says LB and the other one says Dad. That's who I've always played for and I play for my dad every game. Every goal I scored this season was for him," she said. "Well, Dad has been battling cancer and everything and I know how much he loves to watch me play."
According to his daughter, Terry Morrison has gone through chemotherapy and is back at work at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
"He is doing better. He's not going to stop working," she said.
Seems dad is pretty tough. Just like his daughter.
"He taught me to play the game and to love the game, as well as my mom," Kasey Morrison said. "That may have been why I shined a little bit more this season."
