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In step with Noelle Zalac

Friday, September 7, 2001


You may already know Canfield junior goal keeper Noelle Zalac was an all-district selection last year along with teammates Amy Doran and Kelly Williams, and who has a chance to earn all-MAC first team honors in three sports.
Here's what you may not know ...
Q. Do you have Kelly Williams' autograph?
A. What do you mean? Do I have it framed on my wall? Actually, if I could, I would sell it for money.
Q. Number of football games you attend each year?
A. Whatever the home games are.
Q. Number of football players who attend at least one girls soccer match per year?
A. We'll probably have a hefty number tonight [against Howland]. I'd say around 12-ish for this game.
Q. Best fans, other than your own?
A. Poland. They're always jacked with younger and older people.
Q. Best game?
A. Poland last year. It was crunch time and it was raining. Just a big rush. We played to a 0-0 tie.
Field: Q. Best place to play?
A. Poland. They have a nice field and it's got a good vibe.
Q. What's with all the Poland answers?
A. It's crazy there.
Q. True or false, you'd shave three years off your life for a state title.
A. Yeah, that's true.
Q. The song "Free Falling" comes on in your car, do you sing along?
A. Yeah, of course, You gotta sing to the classics.
Q. "Free Falling" is a classic?
A. Yeah, everybody knows that song.
Q. Worst thing ever yelled at you during a game?
A. There's always a few guys on the sidelines with comments that the girls on our team would like to kick their butt for saying.
Q. Best player in the area?
A. [Teammates] Kelly Williams or Grazia Sorice.
Q. Worst singer on your team?
A. Julia Wilcox. She never tries to sing in her real voice; she's always yelling the words.
Reputation: Q. Why does soccer get such a bad rap?
A. Because everyone thinks it's a [sissy] sport and that we don't do a lot of anything. But soccer has the most injuries of any sport and you're always moving. There's no timeouts by the coach to talk about strategy. You just play.
Q. Number of Scrappers games you've listened to on the radio?
A. Zippo.
Q. Number of Scrappers games you've been to?
A. Zippo.
Q. Best compliment you've ever received?
A. Probably from my friends. They said I wasn't afraid to say what's on my mind and I'm very opinionated, and that's true.
Q. Three albums in your CD player right now?
A. Deftones, Ultra Spank and Staind.
Q. Favorite sports clich & eacute; to tell reporters?
A. We gotta go out and do our best. Give it 110 percent.
Q. Number of games you've entered thinking, "These poor saps have no chance of winning."
A. Probably about 12.
The net: Q. Is it a goalie or a keeper?
A. A keeper.
Q. Why?
A. Goalie sounds so kindergartenish. You're keeping the goal.
Q. Superhero you most identify with?
A. I don't know. I guess one of the X-Men.
Q. Which one? There's like 15.
A. I don't know. They're all pretty similar.
Q. Are you just saying that as a cop-out?
A. No. Why?
Q. Well, for instance, I tell people I'm like Superman.
A. Why?
Q. Because we're both journalists and we both, uh, have super powers.
A. You have super powers?
Q. You know, super sarcasm, super smart-aleck -- stuff like that.
A. (Laughs.) That's quality.
XJoe Scalzo is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write him at scalzo@vindy.com.