GREENFIELD — Anne Marie DeKeyser had a blueprint and hopes she’ll have plenty of more in her future.
The senior-to-be soccer star at Greenfield-Central recently made a verbal commitment to play Division I soccer at Ball State University, where she plans on studying architecture.
“I had talked to a few other schools, but Ball State is the school I wanted,” DeKeyser said. “I’m so thankful that it worked out.”
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
She said a love of math and art has led her to wanting to be an architect. She recently took, and enjoyed, a Civil Engineering class that helped solidify her after-athletics plan.
Along with Ball State being a good school for architecture, DeKeyser said her grandparents live in Muncie — her grandfather is a retired BSU professor — and both of her parents are Ball State grads.
“It felt like another home to me,” she said.
It’s no surprise why she is in Ball State’s plans, too.
DeKeyser is one of the county’s top players, coming off back-to-back 16-goal seasons. She also had 14 assists in 2018 as a center midfielder for the Cougars.
She was named All-Hancock County, All-Hoosier Heritage Conference and to the Indiana Soccer Coaches Association (ISCA) Academic All-State team.
When asked why she thinks Ball State had interest in her, DeKeyser said, “I do my best to work hard every time I step on the field. I try to lead by example. I try to pick people’s spirits up on the field. If you feel good about yourself, you will play better.”
Former Greenfield-Central head coach Erin Clark, who will be in her first season at New Palestine this fall, thinks Ball State is getting that and much more.
“She’s the kind of kid that shows up at practice and gives 110 percent,” Clark said. “She didn’t have a bad practice or a bad game; she’s a super hard worker.
“She has the ability to take over a game pretty quickly.”
Or, just in the nick of time.
In a regular season game in 2018 against Franklin Central — a team that went on to win the Greenfield-Central Sectional in October — she scored with 30 seconds left, from 40 yards out, chipping the ball over the keeper for a 1-0 Cougars win.
As a sophomore, in a win against New Palestine, DeKeyser dribbled 60 to 70 yards, beating every Dragon in her way, then wrapped up her impressive ball-handling skills by scoring from five yards out.
Clark admitted she’s already fearing having to make a plan to defend against her former player for the upcoming season.
“She can beat you with her on-ball speed and she can shoot from 40 yards out. She has a lot of tools in her arsenal,” the former Cougars coach added.
Along with providing the major for her future career path, DeKeyser is pretty keen on what the Cardinals provide on the soccer field.
Ball State went 14-3-3 last year and 8-2-1 in the Mid-American Conference. It lost to top-seed Bowling Green in penalty kicks in the MAC Championship. The Cardinals have had eight straight winning seasons and won back-to-back MAC titles in 2015 and 2016.
They won consecutive titles in 2006 and 2007, too. It was the first time any program had achieved the feat in MAC history.
“I love the atmosphere, and they have a great team,” DeKeyser said. “I really liked the team and felt they worked well together and I want to be a part of that.”
Until she takes the trip to Muncie to be a student-athlete at Ball State, DeKeyser has some other plans. She would like to help lead her Cougars to some titles.
“My team will be working very hard and looking to get a sectional title and conference title, also,” she said. “For that to happen, we will have to work as a team and do our best.”
The Cougars are coming off a good season. They were 12-3 in 2018, losing on penalty kicks in the sectional to Mt. Vernon.
New Greenfield-Central head coach Brandon Steeno, who had been an assistant in the Cougars program, said he thinks the Cardinals will not only be getting a good player, but a good teammate.
He said along with being a great player, DeKeyser is a great kid.
“I think it’s easy to find a Division I athlete, but it isn’t as easy finding a Division I teammate,” he said. “I think that, more than anything, is what appeals to coaches as they try to construct a Division I roster.
“She reads plays very well and has a high soccer IQ. Outside of being one of the fastest players in the area, she knows to get the ball to the right spot.”
Steeno said the team motto for 2019 is ‘Take One More Step.’
To get his point across to his Cougars, he said, there is no better example than DeKeyser.
“Last year, she lost the ball on our offensive half, went and tracked down the ball, ran about 80 yards out, wove in and out of traffic and scored,” he recalled. “She had just ran 130 yards to score a goal. She was asked if she wanted to come out and said, ‘No, I’m fine.’
“That (example) is something we use in our coaching. Don’t give up. Take one more step. If that’s on the field or going from a B-plus to A-minus in the classroom, or just holding the door open for someone. That play is the example we use. She took one more step.”
Fittingly, she’s the blueprint for that, too.
