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The postgame handshake line is a symbol of sportsmanship. All too often though, it’s just players going through the motions. Good game, good game, good game, good game, good game, alllllll the way down the line.
The postgame handshake line after the Putnam Science Academy girls’ soccer team defeated Hoosac 13-0 Sept. 18, sounded a little different than normal however. See, when some of the Hoosac players crossed paths with Karol Souza in that line, the traditional and mundane became anything but.
Good game, good game, unbelievable game, good game, good game.
Good game, good game, wow what a game, good game, good game.
It was pretty clear to all who witnessed the game, and it was abundantly clear to Hoosac, that Souza was the dominant player on the field and had earned the special postgame props.
The PSA senior scored three goals and dazzled with her speed, her footwork, and her cannon-like shots on goal with either foot. Opponents and teammates alike rave about the native of Curitiba, Brazil.
“She takes your breath away,” said PSA coach Jen Bennet.
“It’s hard to explain her ability,” teammate Tais Mota said. “It’s too much. She’s so good. She plays at more than a college level. She’s at more than Division I level, if possible. If they had another special level, she would be there.”
Souza developed her skills and love of the game from her father, Celsio, with whom she was on the phone just minutes after the game.
“Soccer reminds me of my family back home,” Souza said. “That’s what my dad taught me. I play for the love of my dad.”
Celsio certainly would have loved what he saw Wednesday. His daughter scored the first goal of the game early after intercepting a short goal kick, carrying the ball back on goal, and firing a rocket off her right foot from about 20 yards out. She then added a second goal just a few minutes later, and a third before the first half was done.
She used her speed to distance herself from defenders, who also had a nearly impossible time stopping her when she used stop-and-start dribbling moves or anything-but-typical jukes.
“What can I say about her?” Bennet said. “She is someone who can take it from one 18 to the other 18, she’ll go right around girls, she’ll break girls’ ankles. She is just leaving them in her dust. She is phenomenal.
“Her ball skills, her speed, her ability to see the field, her ability to put the ball in the net … I’ve never seen something like this at this level. It’s beautiful.”
Souza, who has seven goals through the team’s first two games, said she is excited to have the opportunity to play in the U.S. and hopes that she will impress enough to earn a scholarship and play in college.
“It’s incredible, she said. “I love to play soccer and do what I know. That’s why I’m so focused on doing my best every single day. I was nervous to come. It’s another country, another culture, no family. That’s why I’m always on my phone to talk to home.
“But soccer here has given me another family. It is another family to me.”
By Steve Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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