Gators' Sullivan selected to play in East-West All-Star soccer game

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on May 29, 2016 1:47 AM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

SEVEN SPRINGS -- Scrolling through her iPhone one afternoon, Kaitlyn Sullivan came across an interesting meme on her timeline.

It almost seemed prophetic.

More than two years ago, she watched the Spring Creek girls' soccer team pick up a rare win. Riding an adrenaline rush, she typed out a short message and posted it to her Facebook page.

"This is so promising for us," Sullivan said that afternoon. "I can't wait until my senior year."

She never expected what would take place during her final year in "The Swamp."

The Gators claimed their second straight Carolina 1-A Conference regular-season championship. They set a single-season record for school wins (17) and equaled their program-best mark for victories in league play (12) set a year ago.

Sullivan, meanwhile, established four school records during her two-year career as goal keeper -- minutes played between the pipes (2,377), goals-against-average (1.30), total saves (198) and shutouts (15).

But there's another achievement on her resume.

It's one Sullivan never anticipated.

Sullivan has been selected to play in the 2016 N.C. Coaches Association East-West All-Star girls' soccer game in mid-July in Greensboro. She is the first-ever Spring Creek female -- in any sport -- to receive the honor.

According to NCCA records, Sullivan is also the first-ever female soccer player from Wayne County to play in the annual showcase game.

"I was really, really surprised because obviously I didn't think I was good enough to go that far," Sullivan said. "I knew I wasn't going to play college ball. So when I heard I was nominated for that, it shocked me.

"That's really cool."

Cool?

Indeed.

SC head coach Carlos Borda nominated Sullivan and two teammates for the postseason affair. He felt Sullivan deserved the recognition not only for her improvement in skills, but the leadership role she gladly embraced.

"She deserves it ... a great way to recognize the hard work that she has done," Borda said. "It's good for the girls because if they see somebody on the team who can do something like that, it is motivation because they respect Kaitlyn a lot."

When a teammate suffered a midseason injury during her sophomore year, Sullivan immediately stepped into a starting role in the net. She joked that she lacked speed and that's why she trained as a keeper during her YMCA days.

An instinctive player who likes the coaching aspect of the game, Sullivan -- undoubtedly -- proved to be a valuable asset inside the 18-yard box. She communicated not only with her backline, but also observed how opposing teams generated attacks on goal.

Her knowledge grew along with her confidence.

"Her skills improved so much and she became a very good leader for the team," Borda said.

The early part of the season tested Sullivan's mettle. Teammate Rhianna Ried, the team's leading scorer from a year ago, suffered a concussion during an early-season game and didn't return.

Her litter sister, Madison, fell victim to numerous slide tackles which led to nagging aches and pains. Kaitlyn overcame a broken nose. Two other Gators endured concussions.

Somehow, the team kept its shape and chemistry. Madison Harkay emerged as the "go-to" player on the field and was backed by a strong supporting cast -- mainly senior Amber Buchan and the newcomers.

"Right off the bat, we did have a lot of injuries," Sullivan said. "We knew that we had some freshmen coming up who were big impact players (in middle school) -- my sister, Bianca (Cuevas) and Mirna (Santiago.) We knew they were going to be strong competitors for us. If anything did happen, we knew we had a strong bench.

"As much as I hate the injuries that we had, I think these (younger) kids learned (well) so that when the seniors leave this year, we have people who have played the position and they're not going to be scared for next year."

And they have Sullivan to thank.