On Target with Patricia Ward

With the start of the 2020 season drawing nearer, Gopher Sports is sitting down with some of the soccer program's veteran players as a means to get a pulse for the team after the long hiatus. This week, we begin with rising junior forward Patricia Ward, a native of Newport News, Va.

Across her first two seasons in Maroon & Gold, Ward appeared in 38 games including 32 starts. In 2018, she was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team and even scored her first career goal in her collegiate debut against Utah in the 2018 season opener. As a sophomore, Ward tallied two assists, with one setting the stage for Athena Kuehn's game-winner against Ohio State on Sept. 29.

GopherSports: How are things going for you right now and how are you staying active?
Ward: "It's been pretty difficult just being away from the team and everything. Even though it's summertime, we don't get to have official practices, but normally we would have captains' practices or lifts. That hasn't been too fun. I recently came back to campus, because I've been at home in Virginia. We've been working together, just a couple of the girls who are here. It's been nice to practice with other people. It was definitely tough while I was at home playing by myself."
 
GS: How did you stay in touch with your teammates while on the East Coast?
Ward: "This app called Marco Polo, we started making some group chats on there to keep in touch with each other. Also, adding in the incoming freshmen on those group chats, too. You can send videos back and forth. We would also have some team Zooms on Fridays where we would try to play some kind of games or something, just to see if we could do something a little bit fun with each other."
 
GS: Have you picked up any new hobbies or talents during this extended time at home?
Ward: "I haven't ever really been a huge reader, even for school, but I've been reading a couple of books since we started quarantine. I ordered more books than I actually read, but I've been doing a little bit."
 
GS: What originally drew you to Minnesota?
Ward: "The overall culture for the team. First off, I really liked the school. I liked the city. The campus was beautiful. That was the first thing I loved about it. But the team, the coaches and the staff – everyone was very intentional and caring about who we are as people and players. They want us to succeed in all aspects of our lives and I really liked that. And I liked how inviting and welcoming the team was. It felt like home and it felt like family for me, from the first time that I came. I also really liked the academic portion of things, how I could have a good experience playing in the Big Ten and also get a good education at the same time."
 
GS: Take us back to August 17, 2018, when you scored your first career goal in your first college game via a game winner vs. Utah in the season opener. What was that like?
Ward: "That was a really, really good moment for me. It was very exhilarating. I wouldn't say that I wasn't expecting to score, but I wasn't expecting a lot from it. We were in the last 18 seconds of the game when the play started and I was just running and hoping the ball would get there, but I didn't actually think the ball would get there. When it came to me, I kind of just played off of instinct and was able to put the ball in the back of the net, which was awesome. That's what we practice for. It was a really good moment. It took me awhile to come down from that high after the game. I don't think I could sleep, it just felt so good."

GS: Aside from that goal, what is your best memory from your first two seasons?
Ward: "Definitely winning the Big Ten Tournament my freshman year. That was just a really good moment. It's something I definitely will never forget. Just going into it, we were seeded seventh and so no one expected us to win, but we never doubted ourselves. Winning it in penalty kicks made it feel even better. We knew [Maddie Nielsen] would be able to save at least one, if not more, and so when it came to that moment we all had full confidence in her. Seeing it all go down and then re-watching it at times, it still gives me chills. It was such a great moment and definitely my best memory so far."
 
GS: What can the team build off of from the 2019 season?
Ward: "We can build off of the fact that we don't have as much pressure on us going into the 2020 season. I think that we can use that to our advantage to really rebuild and redefine ourselves this year as a team who is a force to be reckoned with."
 
GS: How do you feel about the team's leadership heading into the 2020 campaign?
Ward: "I'm excited because the Leadership Group is people that we handpicked as a team. We sat down and answered a lot of questions, and wrote down the first name that would come to mind for you. The fact that we handpicked our leaders and they're people we saw potential in and believed in as leaders, because we all selected them as players and as coaches as well – I'm excited about it."
 
GS: What part of your game have you been working on improving for the upcoming season?
Ward: "I'm kind of working on things holistically, but last year we lacked goal scoring, and so I've really been focusing on how to score goals. Just getting down finishing inside of the box or finishing from different areas, or using different surfaces or techniques and just trying to figure out how I'm going to put myself in a position to help the team win."
 
GS: You were a pretty talented indoor track runner in high school. Who on the team could challenge you in your go-to race?
Ward: "I would normally run the 400, if it was outdoor, in indoor that's the 500. That was my race. On the team, we have some fast people. The 400, I would argue is one of the hardest races, because you have to sprint the whole thing. We have some people on our team who ran distance in high school for track and they could probably beat me, like [Megan Gray] or [Athena Kuehn]. They probably have better stamina and pacing."
 
GS: What is your favorite part about being a Gopher?
Ward: "My favorite thing about being a Gopher is honestly just my teammates and friends that I get to be around. Even connecting with other Gophers, too, on different teams. That's probably my overall favorite part about being here. We have so many opportunities to develop relationships with people on our team and on other teams. I really like that aspect of being a student-athlete and specifically being a Gopher."
 
GS: What level of excitement do you have to welcome in and mentor the incoming class?
Ward: "I'm very social. I'm the person on the team that talks to anybody and they might even think I talk too much. But I'm excited for them to come in. I love making new friends, so I'm excited for them to come into our family. Sometimes you develop really good friendships with them, so I'm excited to see what kind of friendships develop on and off the field."
 
GS: What is the most important lesson you have learned from the Minnesota coaching staff?
Ward: "I've learned a lot just about mentality. It's one of our pieces on the staircase. Coming in as a freshman, that was something I struggled with more. I didn't really understand the mentality piece of it. I think I've learned a lot about how the mindset that you go into things with can change the outcome. That goes into different areas of life and it's something I'm still learning with soccer, but something I've also been able to apply in other aspects of my life."
 
GS: What will it be like for you to return to the field and compete with your teammates?
Ward: "I'm hoping it's going to feel very rewarding. Just because of all the work that we've had to put in and everything we've had to endure, being away from each other in the offseason. Being at home and having to work on my own, I was able to develop that passion for soccer again. It was like high school, when I would have to go out and train on my own. For me, that helps me grow my love for the game and how much I want to play, just because I got to go back to the basics and kind of start over. It was hard doing that alone, but it was also rewarding in the fact that I got to feel like I really loved the game again. I'm really excited. I think that it's going to be an overall really good moment."
 
GS: How do you think the Gophers will stack up against the Big Ten in 2020?
Ward: "I'm expecting us to win. I don't know where we're going to place and obviously, sometimes you can't win all the time, but I'm expecting us to do well. I'm expecting us to make the tournament and win the tournament. I think that we can do great things if we all commit and put our minds to it. I know that this is a group, especially coming off of last year, that wants to win. If we can take our will to win and go in with full effort with everything that we do, I know that we can do that."
 

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