Canadian soccer standout performs on, off field Sophomore Kylie Kellis throws the ball during a game against lincoln Memorial University Oct. 14. Kellis started in 10 out of 17 games she played in during the season. ·Jonathan Lindsay A few years before the fall of 2005, sophomore Cheryl Dovichak had never heard of Harding University. Dovichak was playing soccer in Alberta, Canada, in high school when Greg Harris, men's and women's head soccerooach, recruited her. Harris scheduled a visit to Harding for Oovichak, and she said she immediately fell in love with the school. "When I came for my visit, it was a beautiful campus," Dovichak said. "[When] I met some of the girls, they were just awesome. [Graduate student] Lori Boren took me to classes, and I really enjoyed ic. Coach Harris was also a big inspiration in my decision to come to Harding, as well as his wife, Anissa." Dovichak, a goal keeper, saved many points from being scored. Dovichak had 17 goal points and broke the Harding single– season saves record with 148 saves during the 2005 -season. She also earned 1st Team All-Gulf South Conference honors for the second time. "One of my goals growing up was play– ing college soccer and making first team all-conference," Oovichak said. "I achieved that last year, so that was very exciting." Dovichak's success in soccer was a dream that was almost lost forever in October 2003. Dovichak had Wolfe-Parkinson-White syndrome, which resulted from an additional electrical connection between the atria and the ventricles of her heart. During surgery to correct the syndrome, Dovichak twitched, and her A-V nodes were burned, causing a th ird-degree heart block. Doctors told Oovichak that she would never play soccer again. A few months later, doctors told her that if she wanted to play again, she could get a pacemaker. Dovichak had been devastated when hearing the news of never playing again, so she agreed to the surgery. One year later, she was the start– ing goal keeper as a freshman at Harding University. After her first year, Dovichak was second in career saves, saves per game (5.85), wins and shutouts. Her sophomote year brought improvement with 8.71 saves per game and 22 career victories. Oovichak was the conference's top goal keeper in 2005 and ranked ninth in the NCAA II. Through the help of her teammates, Dovichak was able to experience a tourna– ment during her freshman year. "The conference tournament was one of my favorite memories at Harding," Oovichak said. "We got to go down to Florida, which was exciting because r had never been to the beach before. We got to go see the [Dallas] Mavericks play the [Miami] Heat in Miami. It was fun being down there with all the girls." Dovichaksaid she really enjoyed playing on the Harding team and under Harris. "Coach Harris is one ofthe best coaches 1 have ever had, on and offthe field. He is a lot offun and brings a good mood to the team," Dovichak said. "And the girls are awesome. I have never had a sister, but playing with these girls is like having 21 sisters. We are very close, and always have inside jokes, so it makes it a lot of fun." The team finished 8-9-1 overall rills season, with a 5-5 record in conference play. oDaniel Ramberger women's soccer'.., . ...
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