STARKVILLE — Courtney Robicheaux admits she was pretty shocked.
The four-time Louisiana High School Athletic Association All-State standout thought she was a good soccer player. She helped lead her St. Scholastica Academy team to a Division I State title as a senior and state championship game appearances as a sophomore and junior.
But the jump to Division I soccer at Mississippi State? Robicheaux wasn’t even sure she was going to make the team’s travel squad as a freshman in 2015.
“I guess when I got in here and started playing a lot, I learned I needed to trust myself more and have more confidence,” Robicheaux said. “I think I am too hard in myself at times.”
Robicheaux discovered there was a way to make her drive, her athleticism, and her speed work for her. Once she used those skills to find a spot in MSU’s starting lineup, Robicheaux didn’t leave. She finished the season second on the team in minutes (1,557) to Carly Mauldin. She started 17 of the team’s 18 games.
“I was like, ‘Is this really happening?’ I didn’t have a lot of confidence in myself, not because I didn’t think I was a good player, but because I was a freshman coming into a SEC team, so I was like, ‘There is no way,’ ” Robicheaux said. “I guess once I started playing I had to adopt a role of having confidence in myself and I had to adjust to that quickly so people would respect me and trust in me on the back line, especially playing center defender because that is such an important position.”
The 5-foot-5 defender from Mandeville, Louisiana, hopes to build on her freshman campaign this season. After earning a key role in 2015, MSU coach Aaron Gordon hopes Robicheaux will help form a talented “spine” of the team that also includes goalkeeper Tanya de Souza, midfielder Carly Mauldin, and forward Mallory Eubanks.
“She is a pretty driven and self-aware kid,” Gordon said. “She is her own worst critic. Even though she was playing and logging a lot of minutes, I don’t think she realized how impactful she was on the team until a quarter of the way through the season”
Gordon said Robicheaux’s limited exposure outside the region in high school and in club soccer played a part in her doubts about where she fit in at MSU. He said she proved from the beginning that she was mentally and physically capable of competing against more heralded players from other parts of the country.
Robicheaux’s ability to use that confidence to become a louder voice will be a key for the Bulldogs this season. MSU will play host to Memphis at 6 p.m. Wednesday in an exhibition match at the MSU Soccer Field. MSU will play Iowa State on Saturday in Ames, Iowa, in another exhibition match. It will take on College of Charleston at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19, in its season opener in Charleston, South Carolina.
Robicheaux proved last year she could hang with the Southeastern Conference’s best. She went the distance 15 times and recorded a season-high of 110 minutes three times. She ended the season on a streak of 13-consecutive games with 90 minutes or more played.
Robicheaux’s speed aided her cause on the backline. At St. Scholastica, she clocked a 40-yard dash time of 4.5 seconds as a junior season. As a sophomore, The New Orleans Advocate named her the defensive player of the year.
Robicheaux said she wasn’t sure what she did to earn a spot in the starting lineup. She guessed that her work rate had something to do with it, but she said she preferred to focus on the things she needed to improve on so she could continue to get better.
“I think I got a lot more confident,” Robicheaux said. “That was kind of my problem last year, not finding my voice all season. I thought, ‘I am a freshman. I don’t want to get on peoples’ case.’ That kind of changed throughout the season. I became more confident and developed my voice. I think that is what I am doing a better job with in my sophomore year. I am finding my voice and knowing these are my friends and they all respect me and trust in me. That makes me feel better about myself.”
Gordon saw Robicheaux emerge in similar fashion to Mauldin, who also was a freshman in 2015. He hopes Robicheaux, senior Ari Holmes, and junior Khalyn Harmon will develop even better chemistry and learn to complement each other this season as part of the Bulldogs’ defense.
Robicheaux is eager to show she has matured from the player who wasn’t sure of her role as a freshman. She understands she will have more responsibility on her shoulders and that she will have to have a louder and more confident voice to make it work.
“I noticed that in the beginning of last year I would let little things go,” Robicheaux said. “Now, I am constantly organizing everyone because I can see everyone from where I am, so I am constantly telling people where to go, so I have found my voice throughout all of this.
“Last year, I was so scared. I was a freshman. I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes. Now, I feel as a sophomore I gained a year of experience, so I definitely can direct them and communicate with them more.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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