Fitzgerald's 'Relentless' Style Nabs Scholarship

When to play soccer next fall, she will take with her memories of a tight-knit Oakton athletics family.

"I'm going to miss the overall camaraderie of Oakton athletics and the feeling that we're all connected in some way. Seeing other people who practice every day and they're asking you to come to their game and you want them at yours, that sort of thing," she said. "It's one big family that we have going at Oakton."

And Oakton athletics will miss her. Fitzgerald earned All-State honors as a part of the 4x200-meter relay team for the past three years, and a spot on the All-Concorde District second team for soccer her freshman and sophomore year. She even earned an All-Met honorable mention her sophomore year. An injury-plagued junior year kept Fitzgerald sidelined the season.

Luckily, Kentucky coaches had spotted and nabbed Fitzgerald for their 2012 roster from her work with her club team, the Herndon Firecats, before she fractured two bones and tore a minor ligament in her knee last March. 

"She is fast and relentless with a knack for scoring goals," Jon Lipsitz, Kentucky's head coach, wrote in an email to Oakton Patch. "A perfect forward for our system of play."

Lipsitz said he noticed Fitzgerald while scouting other players, but kept finding himself drawn to her style of play.

"So far she has shown that she is fit and strong and has great footskills," Lipsitz wrote. "We want our players to be skillful with the ball and have a relentless competitive attitude. She has this."

Nadir Moumen, who has coached Fitzgerald on the club team for about seven years, called her an "impact player" who will fit right in with Kentucky's Division I program. 

"Over the years, she's been a player that changes the game. Just give her a little room and she'll put the ball in the back of the net or she'll create scoring chances. She's a game-changer," said Moumen, who added she has just as much of an impact as a vocal leader. "She'll push her teammates and she's very competitive. She won't take anything but the best."

Fitzgerald has played soccer since about the age of 5, and started playing at the highest level possible with a club travel team at 10 years old. 

"Soccer's just a sport that comes to me," said Fitzgerald, who admits the sport isn't in her blood. Though both of her parents were athletes, neither played soccer. "I love the whole team aspect of it. You do actually learn how to work with people in different ways."

And for now, the team she's working with are the Oakton Cougars, who look to not only repeat a Concorde District title this year but , as well.

The undefeated Cougars continue their season with a home match against Lee at 7 p.m. today.

To read about other local athletes who have committed to college programs, click here.