SE: Davis Thrives in New Role for K-State Soccer, Named to All-Big 12 Freshman Team
Oct 31, 2017 | Soccer, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
In high school, Hannah Davis always felt pressure on the soccer field. Like, score-almost-every-goal type pressure, and she handled it well.
Davis netted 117 goals in her career at Lincoln (Nebraska) Southwest High School, despite an injury-shortened sophomore season in which she scored only six. Her career total shattered the state's previous Class A record held by Kelly Lindsey, who went on to play at Notre Dame and eventually the U.S. Women's National Team.
"I was always looked upon on my team and looked up to," said Davis, who broke two other Class A records her senior season: goals in a match (8) and goals in a single-season (46). "The pressure was always on me to score the goals to win the games."
As a freshman at K-State, Davis enjoyed a much-different type of pressure: Setting her teammates up for goals. Again, she played the role quite well.
Davis dished out five assists this season, tied for third in the Big 12 and tied for first in among freshmen in the conference with TCU's Yazmeen Ryan. On Monday, Davis was named to the All-Big 12 Freshman Team.
"Coming here I don't feel as much pressure, but I feel the need to set someone else up and sit back and help someone else, rather than try and do it all myself," said Davis, who also scored two goals for K-State (6-11-1, 1-8-0) this season. "Coming to college, you play with the top players from every school, so it's really fun to play with them, be able to set them up and have them be able to score goals."
When Davis did score, she did so in crucial moments. She buried game-winners at South Dakota and at Kansas, with the latter giving the Wildcats their first Big 12 victory in school history.
Both served as reminders for Davis of what she could do, despite the changes from high school to college.
"Coming here, I thought I'd score lots of goals. Then they moved me to the outside wing, so I didn't think I'd score very much," Davis, a two-time Big 12 Freshman of the Week honoree this season, said. "So scoring is actually really exciting because I kind of taught myself that I need to just set others up to score, but I've come to find out I can score on the wing as well. It's different but I like it."
In terms of typical forwards at the Division I level, Davis is certainly different as well. She stands only 5-foot-2, limiting her ability to win balls in the air and outrun defenders with longer strides.
Still, she finds a way around the disadvantages and the defenders.
"A lot of people look at me and don't think I can do much because I'm so little. They don't think I'd be as fast as I am, but I use that to my advantage," she said. "(Defenders) usually have three inches or more on their legs, but speed and technicality, being good on the ball is key, and knowing where I'm going to go before I even receive the ball because once it gets to me I don't have enough time to think about it."
K-State head coach Mike Dibbini credited a few other characteristics of Davis's that helped her transition so quickly to a new role at a higher level of soccer.
"She's not afraid to take players on," he said. "She loves the moment, the moment of creating an offensive opportunity for herself or her teammates. She does a nice job of staying composed on the attack, and not many freshmen do that. They rush things. She focuses and stays composed."
When Davis signed to K-State, the Wildcats were coming off the program's first season. She saw this as an opportunity to earn significant minutes as a freshman, which she did. It did not take long for her to realize that her days of dominating the goals scored category were behind her, however.
"After the UNO game, I realized I'm probably not going to score many goals this season, so I had to wrap my head around trying to find what else I can do to be proficient and become a good player," said Davis, who played in all 18 matches, including 14 starts, while totaling 1,059 minutes this season. "I learned it's not all about me. In high school, it was all about me, but coming to college it's about everyone."
Davis, one of five freshmen to log significant minutes for K-State in 2017, said she always wanted to play with an abundance of talent in high school. Now that she's surrounded by it at K-State, she's excited for what the future holds.
"Having the amount of freshmen that played this season, it's actually really exciting and I think further in the future we're going to become really, really good," she said. "The next step for me is to keep pushing my teammates, be confident around my teammates all the time. I want to better the rest of them and help them for the future."
In high school, Hannah Davis always felt pressure on the soccer field. Like, score-almost-every-goal type pressure, and she handled it well.
Davis netted 117 goals in her career at Lincoln (Nebraska) Southwest High School, despite an injury-shortened sophomore season in which she scored only six. Her career total shattered the state's previous Class A record held by Kelly Lindsey, who went on to play at Notre Dame and eventually the U.S. Women's National Team.
"I was always looked upon on my team and looked up to," said Davis, who broke two other Class A records her senior season: goals in a match (8) and goals in a single-season (46). "The pressure was always on me to score the goals to win the games."
As a freshman at K-State, Davis enjoyed a much-different type of pressure: Setting her teammates up for goals. Again, she played the role quite well.
Davis dished out five assists this season, tied for third in the Big 12 and tied for first in among freshmen in the conference with TCU's Yazmeen Ryan. On Monday, Davis was named to the All-Big 12 Freshman Team.
"Coming here I don't feel as much pressure, but I feel the need to set someone else up and sit back and help someone else, rather than try and do it all myself," said Davis, who also scored two goals for K-State (6-11-1, 1-8-0) this season. "Coming to college, you play with the top players from every school, so it's really fun to play with them, be able to set them up and have them be able to score goals."
When Davis did score, she did so in crucial moments. She buried game-winners at South Dakota and at Kansas, with the latter giving the Wildcats their first Big 12 victory in school history.
Both served as reminders for Davis of what she could do, despite the changes from high school to college.
"Coming here, I thought I'd score lots of goals. Then they moved me to the outside wing, so I didn't think I'd score very much," Davis, a two-time Big 12 Freshman of the Week honoree this season, said. "So scoring is actually really exciting because I kind of taught myself that I need to just set others up to score, but I've come to find out I can score on the wing as well. It's different but I like it."
In terms of typical forwards at the Division I level, Davis is certainly different as well. She stands only 5-foot-2, limiting her ability to win balls in the air and outrun defenders with longer strides.
Still, she finds a way around the disadvantages and the defenders.
"A lot of people look at me and don't think I can do much because I'm so little. They don't think I'd be as fast as I am, but I use that to my advantage," she said. "(Defenders) usually have three inches or more on their legs, but speed and technicality, being good on the ball is key, and knowing where I'm going to go before I even receive the ball because once it gets to me I don't have enough time to think about it."
K-State head coach Mike Dibbini credited a few other characteristics of Davis's that helped her transition so quickly to a new role at a higher level of soccer.
"She's not afraid to take players on," he said. "She loves the moment, the moment of creating an offensive opportunity for herself or her teammates. She does a nice job of staying composed on the attack, and not many freshmen do that. They rush things. She focuses and stays composed."
When Davis signed to K-State, the Wildcats were coming off the program's first season. She saw this as an opportunity to earn significant minutes as a freshman, which she did. It did not take long for her to realize that her days of dominating the goals scored category were behind her, however.
"After the UNO game, I realized I'm probably not going to score many goals this season, so I had to wrap my head around trying to find what else I can do to be proficient and become a good player," said Davis, who played in all 18 matches, including 14 starts, while totaling 1,059 minutes this season. "I learned it's not all about me. In high school, it was all about me, but coming to college it's about everyone."
Davis, one of five freshmen to log significant minutes for K-State in 2017, said she always wanted to play with an abundance of talent in high school. Now that she's surrounded by it at K-State, she's excited for what the future holds.
"Having the amount of freshmen that played this season, it's actually really exciting and I think further in the future we're going to become really, really good," she said. "The next step for me is to keep pushing my teammates, be confident around my teammates all the time. I want to better the rest of them and help them for the future."
Players Mentioned
F
/ SoccerK-State Soccer | End of Season Recap
Thursday, November 20
K-State Soccer | Reece Walrod Every Minute Played
Tuesday, November 11
K-State Soccer | You Make The Face, I Make The Sound
Tuesday, November 11
K-State Soccer | Postgame Highlights vs Iowa State
Friday, October 31
