On Thursday, May 18, 2017, Quakertown senior Meghan Woulfe was recognized for committing to continue her soccer career at La Salle University. To view photos of the event, please visit the Photo Gallery.
Meghan Woulfe – La Salle University (Soccer)
Major: Criminal Justice
Final list of colleges: La Salle, Rosemont
Reasons for choosing La Salle: “I loved La Salle. I originally didn’t think I was good enough to play Division One soccer. I was going to go full-blown active duty in the military. I wasn’t sure which branch – I was leaning Navy, but I didn’t know. Then I got an offer from a smaller school, Rosemont College, which is Division 3, when I went to camp with them.
“At a completely unknown soccer tournament this year with my club team – I didn’t think anyone was watching, it was an amazing game against an amazing team, and I had a few great saves. It was a great game to watch against a team that was better than us. I came off the field, and one of the team moms came running over and said, ‘Oh my god, La Salle asked for your name.’ I had never heard of La Salle before this. I looked into La Salle, and I looked up and saw they were Division One. I was shocked. It was mind blowing. My club coach, Mike Bishop, and my father (Kevin Woulfe) who also was my coach – they did a great job exposing me to college coaches and getting me out there.”
What was the progression that led you to competing in soccer at the collegiate level? “I wanted to play college ball since I was real young. I’ve played soccer for around 12 years, and all those years I wanted to play. High school soccer started and I got up to higher leagues and I started playing with higher teams. I knew I was good. I had offers to guest play with teams, but I’ve always been told I’m not good enough - there was always someone better than me.
“I kind of got discouraged about college ball. I knew I wasn’t a scholar – I’m an average student, so that shut down college and I went right to the military. I need the structure – that’s why I joined the military (National Guard and ROTC).”
Coach Mike Koch says: “Meghan – along with becoming a Division One athlete next year – is going in the ROTC and will be serving her country starting June 5. Very, very few people take on the responsibility of being a Division One athlete as well serving the country in the ROTC. Athletics and the military go together a lot. We had a very successful season, and there are a lot of components that go into success. Meghan exemplifies all of them.
“There are four things that come to mind to me. One is leadership, and Meghan is always a team leader. She was particularly a team leader to the up and coming players, the freshmen and the sophomores that the experience was new to. She was always very willing to spend a lot of time to help them. I know she was a great comfort to them, and she led the rest of the team as well.
“Team first is another thing. In order to be successful in sports and serving your country, which is why I think she will do so well in that – you have to put the team first. Meghan is a goalkeeper by trade and will be doing that in college, but the team needed her on the field this year, and she filled that role tremendously. She sacrificed self for team, and we won a conference championship and had a tremendous amount of success. That’s the team first attitude that leads towards that.
“Versatility is another thing. A lot of players say, ‘I’m a this’ or ‘I’m a that.’ I believe Meghan played all 11 positions this year, and in soccer, sometimes there are versatile players, but you rarely find one that plays in goal. We needed her in goal one game against Upper Moreland without any warning after not being in goal all season, and she had a 2-0 shutout in a game we needed to win the league.
“The last piece is role modeling. We do a soccer camp every year for the younger kids in the community, and Meghan looks like a professional coach already with her interaction with the kids, the way she sets the drills up, and the kids respect, admire and buy into what she’s doing.
“Lastly, Meghan is a credit to her dad, Kevin Woulfe, who is the boys’ coach and has coached her throughout the years and a lot of our seniors this year that had a lot of success.”
About Meghan:
Favorite food: “I’m a foodie. I like all food.”
Favorite movie: Zootopia
Favorite music: Alternative
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