A Chat with Senior Lillie Ehlert
10/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Lillie Ehlert is a senior from Pflugerville, Texas. She started her path with soccer on a very different note from a lot of other players. She was four years old and playing T-Ball when her team decided to stop serving snacks at the game. “I got mad and told my parents that I wanted to switch sports because they didn’t serve snacks anymore,” Ehlert explained. The four year old soccer team had halftime snacks, so she switched over to soccer and never looked back. “From there, I just kept playing. I played for Rec until I was about 11, and then I started playing club all through high school,” said Ehlert.
Ehlert chose to come to SFA because she loved the atmosphere and the small town feel. It also helped that SFA had one of the best nursing schools in the state, which is Ehlert’s chosen career path. “The nursing program that [SFA offers] really gravitated me towards SFA over the others, because I was interested in trying nursing. She also knew fellow seniors Meghan Corder and Brooke Dunnigan. “It was good knowing people. I had another, Christie Hinojosa, who went to my high school. She helped persuade me, and I am glad with my decision to come here.”
In her four years here, Ehlert believes that her favorite memory would have to come from this year in the game against Oregon. “We were just so eager to get started and to get going. We have a great group this year.” After the long summer workouts the team was ready to get going. “It was just a good feeling to get back on the field after so long. We just wanted to get started with this team, because we were really excited to see what we could do this year.”
Ehlert’s career as goalkeeper at Stephen F. Austin has allowed her to participate in over 38 games and accumulate 143 saves in the net. However, Lillie did not start out only in the net. “I was maybe 12 or 13 when our keeper got hurt, and I volunteered to step in.” She and Dunnigan actually used to switch halves on who was goalkeeper in their club team years. A year later, Ehlert decided to be a keeper only. “I miss being out in the field sometimes, because things are a lot more action packed, but I am also happy with my decision. I enjoy being a keeper."
Her senior year of soccer may be coming to a close, but Ehlert is not done with SFA just yet. In the nursing school program a student has two years of prerequisites and then two years of nursing school. To help alleviate the pressure of being an athlete and full-time student, Ehlert started her nursing school years in the spring of her junior year to work around her soccer schedule and get the best of both worlds. Ehlert says, “It is definitely doable, but definitely busy.”
Ehlert is still wide open for her ideas after graduation. She hasn’t been in an area of the nursing program that she doesn’t like yet, which is a positive. However, it also makes it hard, because she can’t decide which area she wants to pursue. “I am a little indecisive right now. Next semester, I will get into more specific things, so I am keeping my mind open right now to see what all I like,” said Ehlert.
What is you favorite Holiday: I think for me it is a tie between Thanksgiving and Christmas, just because we always go to my grandparent’s house. Our family and all the cousins come over and stuff. We go to some events, so there are a lot of family friends involved. It is great just to see everyone, and we do the same thing every year. There are a lot of traditions we always do, great food, and seeing all the family and friends. I think that is the best part about it.
On any wacky family traditions: No, we don’t have any wacky traditions. We just go up a couple of days before Christmas and bake sugar cookies together, and then we have a Christmas day brunch that we always do. We do have one where we have a pickle ornament. Some people know this, some people are like what is that? You have to search for the pickle ornament, and whoever finds it gets a bonus present. Usually it is a gift card to the movies or something like that. We enjoy it and get pretty into it.
Do you like or dislike surprises: I don’t dislike surprises, but I am a person where I tend to be very organized. Any curve balls I am not too fond of, but I mean if they are good surprises then I am for that. I would be more on the end of dislike than like because I am so organized and everything. I have my own plan, but I am definitely flexible about that so surprises don’t throw me off too much.
If you could describe Wally in one word, what would it be: The word that comes to mind right now is “Miami,” because when the song come on, he always says “305.” He always tells us about his college days in Miami, and how he did this or that in Miami. That just comes to mind because there are so many things he relates it to when he tells stories. Even in his pregame speeches or stuff, his college days come out, like when he says stuff like “dawg” and all that stuff.
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