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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Goal Stopper
11/18/2003 | Soccer
Oct. 18, 2003
By Chris Purser
Athletics Media Relations Student Assistant
For most people, moving away to college takes a little getting used to - new faces, new surroundings, new sights. For Ole Miss soccer player Brittany Gillespie, it took getting used to the southern charm that comes with a small Mississippi town.
"The biggest adjustment was getting used to a small town after coming from a big city," said Gillespie. "Also, I had to adjust to the South coming from the West Coast."
For Gillespie, home is the bigger town of Modesto, Calif., just a tad over 2,000 miles away from Oxford. While most students have the luxury of being a few hours from home, Gillespie is a few days away.
"It takes about two-and-a-half days (to drive)," Gillespie said. "Driving all day, with stops at night."
Gillespie is the second straight starting goalkeeper from the West Coast to play for Ole Miss. The 5-foot-9 goalie followed Melinda Smith, who the the Rebels' starter in net from 1999-2001 and was from Tacoma, Wash. That is a something unusual to consider giving Oxford's location in the Deep South.
"I don't know if we have started a trend of West Coast goalkeepers," Gillespie said. "I think that the person who recruited us was from the West Coast, so that may be why. But, it is still a bit unusual."
Moving to Oxford was a huge adjustment for the California native, but that is something that she didn't mind.
"It took some getting used to," Gillespie said. "The people here are friendly and talk to everybody. Modesto has like 200,000 people, so unfortunately you can't know everybody. It's also a little faster paced living in a big town."
Gillespie said that while other schools wanted her services, Ole Miss had everything she was looking for in a program, even though it was nearly on the other side of the United States.
"I came out here on a recruiting trip and just fell in love with the everything," Gillespie said. "Ole Miss had everything I wanted in a program. You could tell the program was building up. It was already in good shape in the SEC, but you could see it just getting better and better."
While the change of scenery may have taken some getting used to, Gillespie has had no problems adjusting to the fast-paced competition of the Southeastern Conference, which is one of the top women's soccer leagues in the nation. Since her arrival at Ole Miss, Gillespie has seen vast improvements in the Rebels' overall performance. In fact, she said that is one of the reasons she chose to play for the Rebels.
"That is just the nature of soccer," said Gillespie, who was a freshmen on the 2000 Ole Miss squad that won the SEC Western Division crown. "I was recruited by other schools on the West Coast, but you want to play where you think you can make an impact on the team and the program. We have players from all over the U.S., and that is a testament to our coaching staff because we all get along really well together."
And Gillespie has made an impact on the Ole Miss program. The 2003 team co-captain is tops on the the Rebel career charts in shutouts (15), goals-against average (0.98) and consecutive shutouts (4). Gillespie is third in wins (23) and fourth in saves (149) on the career charts. While Gillespie will make a run at the career wins mark (29 by Smith) this season, she said that records mean very little when it comes to what the team hopes to accomplish this year.
"We want to continue on in the NCAA Tournament," said Gillespie, who started in goal in the program's first NCAA Tournament game in 2002. "Last year, we made it to the tournament. This year, we want to make it past the first two rounds. Our offense has stepped it up, and our defense is playing as a team. This year, we want to make an impact."
Gillespie also feels that this team still has something to prove.
"We still have some unfinished business this year," Gillespie said. "We want to prove to everybody that we are not just a small-time program. We deserve to be here."
With Gillespie protecting the goal, that is something the Rebels are destined to do.
