UT's Gaitan a world presence

Natalia Gaitan burst onto the scene in her freshman season with the University of Toledo women's soccer team last year, appearing in all 21 matches and making 12 starts as an outside defender.

It may have come as a surprise to some, but not to Gaitan, who already possessed a wealth of international experience before taking the pitch for the Rockets.

A native of Bogota, Colombia, Gaitan represented her home country at the 2008 U-17 FIFA World Cup in New Zealand and served as team captain while tallying three goals.

Gaitan was back wearing the captain's armband for Colombia at the U-20 World Cup in Germany last summer. It was the first time Colombia had qualified for the tournament, and the Colombians became only the second South American nation to advance past group stage before losing 1-0 to Nigeria in the semifinals.

"It was amazing," Gaitan said. "Sometimes I have to remind myself that it really happened. It was unbelievable. I learned a lot about myself and soccer."

Gaitan started playing with the Colombian national team when she was 15, allowing her the opportunity to travel the world while playing the game she loves.

"I don't have words to describe what this experience has been like," Gaitan said. "When you hear the anthem and the flags in the stadium and all the fans, it's amazing. It's the top experience in my life right now."

Gaitan has now turned her focus to her sophomore campaign with the Rockets, who possess a 3-2 overall record heading into this weekend's home matches against Michigan and No. 23 Minnesota.

UT takes on the Wolverines (3-1-1) tomorrow at 5 p.m. before hosting the Golden Gophers (4-1) at 1 p.m. Sunday. Both matches will be held at Scott Park.

"We're playing an unbelievably challenging nonconference schedule - we'll end up playing at least three top-20 teams," UT coach Brad Evans said. "It's doing everything that it is supposed to do. It's showing us where we're very good and it's showing us places we need to get better on both sides of the ball."

The Rockets saw their streak of three consecutive Mid-American Conference titles end last season, and it's Evan's belief that an arduous nonconference slate will help his team regain its spot atop the MAC.

Last weekend, UT traveled to Louisville and suffered a 4-1 loss to the 23rd-ranked Cardinals. The Rockets also played at No. 21 Dayton in the opening weekend of the season, falling 2-1 after winning 1-0 in double overtime at Purdue two days earlier.

"We continue to try and take sort of a long view towards what we can be at the end of the season using these games to help us get there," Evans said. "We're not really super focused on what the result is going to be on this day or that day. It's about what we can learn through these different challenges to clean up as we head into the conference season."

CROSS COUNTRY: The UT men's and women's cross country teams each defeated rival Bowling Green in their season-openers Friday.

A pair of UT sophomores, Kristal Studer and Nick Thomas, picked up their first collegiate wins in the dual meet at BG.

It was the fifth straight win over the Falcons for the UT men, and the second consecutive sweep for the UT women over their rival to the south.

GOLF: The UT men's and women's golf teams tee off in their first events of the fall in the next few days.

The women will participate in the Wolverine Invitational in Ann Arbor on Saturday and Sunday, while the men will compete in the Marshall Invitational on Monday and Tuesday.

Contact Zach Silka at:

zsilka@theblade.com

or 419-724-6084.