Ross Paule’s club is off to a 2-1-0 start to the 2019 season, and a big reason for their success has been the play of sophomore Ansley Atkinson. In the season-opening win over Kansas State, the Minneapolis, Minnesota native was the catalyst for the both the game-tying and game-winning goals in the second half after the Jays fell behind 2-0.
A week later against South Dakota State, her strike from long distance resulted in a desperate punch away by the keeper and a corner kick that Atkinson served in from the right corner leading to the only goal of the match.
Atkinson hasn’t recorded a point yet this season, but she is second on the team in total shots taken with 10, and three of Creighton’s four goals came either as a direct or indirect result of her play-making ability. She leads CU with six shots on goal and a .600 shot-on-goal percentage.
“She’s just an all-around player,” Coach Paule said. “She has the athletic ability, she’s technical, she’s creative. She is one of those players that you can really put anywhere on the field.”
Atkinson played up top some, but mostly settled in at central midfielder during her club and high school days. During her freshman season at Creighton she was penciled in the midfield area as well. This season, however, Atkinson has started at left back, one of the few positions on the field that she hadn’t played at any point in her career.
“I just thought it would fill a role for the team,” Atkinson said. “It lets me get into the attack when I have a lot of space on the left side. It was a pretty good transition. I’m just trying to work with the center backs a little bit more and just adapt and learn as I go.”
Her time as an attacking forward at the high school and club level has actually helped with her transition to the back line, because she says she understands the mindset of what that position is trying to accomplish. Despite the challenges that come with adapting to a new position at the Division 1 level, Atkinson believes her biggest hurdle right now is actually learning how to be a more patient attacker.
“I’m used to playing center-mid, so I have a lot of time to warm up on the ball,” she said. “On the left side you kind of get one shot when you’re one on one and you have to capitalize on it and make the most out of it.”
Moving a player out of their comfort zone isn’t an easy decision at any stage of their career, but Paule felt that the blend of her athleticism, intelligence, and creativity on the ball would help her make an impact out of the back.
“She has all the attributes to play at a very high level at left back, because she has the engine to get up and down and she’s smart,” Paule said. “She can pick and choose when she finds the holes to get into the attack and create 2v1 situations.
“She’s still learning the position, so she’s only going to get better at finding her way to make an impact through that position. She’s getting more and more confident, and I think that’s what you see any time you bring in a player that has played in the middle, and is used to playing in the middle, and you move them outside. There are games where you don’t get the ball as much, so you have to be mentally strong, and you have to wait for the game to come to you sometimes instead of going to get the game. I think that has been difficult for her, and I can understand that. I can definitely understand that, but she’s also very impactful any time she gets the ball when she is patient … the more she plays there the more confident she is going to get.”
For some outside help with the transition to the back line, Atkinson has a template in the form of Crystal Dunn. The 27-year-old won the National Women’s Soccer League Most Valuable Player award in 2015 after leading her team in goals, points, and shots. At the 2019 World Cup, however, she played left back for the U.S. Women’s National Team and helped lead them to their fourth World Cup crown this summer.
“She’s a workhorse and she’s super strong on the ball,” Atkinson said. “I was actually arguing with a friend about what position she played [before the World Cup], whether she was a striker or a center-mid. Turns out she played all of it, so just her work ethic and ruthlessness on the ball is something that I’m trying to embody.”
Atkinson and the Bluejays will return to the pitch this weekend at Morrison Stadium when they host Iowa State at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, September 6 and Eastern Michigan at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 8.