ATHLETE PROFILE: Anya Rosen

After being honored with her third University Athletic Association (UAA) Women’s Soccer Defensive Athlete of the Week last week, sophomore goalkeeper Anya Rosen has continued to show her goalkeeping prowess in recent games. The Tartans had an impressive 5–1 win over Kenyon College Saturday, improving their record to 4–2–2. Rosen gave The Tartan her take on Carnegie Mellon, her outlook for the rest of the season, and what it is like to be the crucial last line of defense on the field.

Tartan: When did you start playing soccer? Did you start out as a goalkeeper?
Rosen: I started playing when I was seven or eight on one of those recreational teams and I was definitely not a keeper then. It took until the end of middle school for my coaches to realize I liked falling down more than I liked to run.

T: What aspect of fine arts interests you the most, and what would you like to do as a career?
R: I’d really like to eventually work with illustration, graphic art, and design, but for now I’m pretty fascinated with the developing culture of contemporary art. I don’t really understand it at all but it’s very interesting.

T: What do you do before a game to prepare yourself? Do you do anything during the game to keep yourself in the zone?
R: I psych myself out easily, so I try hard not to think about playing before a game. If I don’t make a big deal out of it, I am more calm, confident, and collected in the net. During the game, I talk and yell a lot because it’s much easier to be focused when I stay involved.

T: Is there anything about Carnegie Mellon that you have experienced that you didn’t expect?
R: Most things I’ve experienced here I didn’t expect. If I had to choose one in particular, I guess I really didn’t expect the winter to be so dreadful. You can’t know what wind chill feels like until you spend February in Pittsburgh.

T: Do you have a favorite genre of music? What song would you choose to be your theme song?
R: I really like folk music, but I’m not very picky. I like having the option of different genres for different situations. I mean, Pitbull is much more appropriate for the pre-game locker room mix than Bob Dylan. It all depends. As far as theme songs go, “You Set Me Free” by Michelle Branch. She’s my overly sentimental girl power rock queen and I love her.

T: What are some of your personal goals for the rest of the season? How about for the team as a whole?
R: My personal goals aren’t very elaborate. I want to keep improving every game and I never want to be satisfied with myself as a soccer player. For the team, I want us to score in every game regardless of the outcome.

Women’s soccer next competes in Gesling Stadium against Grove City College at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, followed by their first UAA match against Washington (Mo.) University Sunday, also at home.