By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Like most college freshmen, former Bishop Carroll soccer star Leah Henke didn't know exactly what to expect when she arrived on the Washburn University campus earlier this fall.
Former Bishop Carroll star Leah Henke leads Washburn soccer with nine goals in just 13 games as a freshman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But it's safe to say that the 5-foot-6 forward didn't expect a team-leading nine goals, including a hat trick, in 13 games for an 8-2-3 Washburn team that is in the midst of an unbeaten streak that has reached nine games.
"I did not expect to be doing this well, so I'm definitely surprised,'' Henke said.
Henke, who helped lead Bishop Carroll to the Class 5A state title as a senior, said her goal at the start of the season was just to do whatever she could to contribute to a Washburn team that graduated a talented senior class off last year's team that won a second straight MIAA regular-season title while earning a second straight NCAA Tournament berth.
"I guess I was a little bit intimidated at first,'' Henke said. "I feel like I did pretty decent in high school, but coming here I just expected that everybody's going to be better than me, so I just wanted to do well and succeed, score goals and do what I came here to do.''
Henke scored a goal in her very first college game, had two goals in her third game and was off and running.
"She was an All-American out of high school and she's really good,'' Washburn coach Davy Phillips said. "You never know though until they get on campus and how they adjust to college. One of the things we talk about it everything is different in college. In some areas, if the social piece isn't right or if academics aren't strong it's really hard to translate to on-field success, so you never really know until they get here and they compete.
"To Leah's credit, I think the first two weeks was just a lot, with me coaching and all of that, but then once she settled into it you could just see the comfort level rise with every game and every training session and it was just letting her go.''
Henke took her game to another level in Washburn's 5-1 road win at Missouri Southern on Oct. 10 when she recorded a three-goal hat trick in a four-minute span.
"Three goals in four minutes was unbelievable,'' Phillips said. "It was just that quick. Leah took over and it was like bang, bang, bang and the game just went to bed. She's been really good all year, but that night was unbelievable.''
And with every passing day Henke becomes more and more convinced that she made the right decision when she picked Washburn to launch her college career.
"Davy reached out and I was like, 'Yeah, I'll go on a visit,' and I came on a visit here and I just loved it,'' Henke said. "I loved everything about the campus and Davy was such a nice person, so I decided to come here and I'm really glad because it's a really good program and it just feels like family.
"I feel like we all clicked much faster than I thought we would. Usually it takes time, but it feels like we've played together forever, honestly, so I think that's really helpful. I think it was just meshing. ''
Washburn will be back in action Friday as the Ichabods host the Central Missouri Jennies in a 6 p.m. MIAA contest at Yager Stadium.
