Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Krista Fine: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
9/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 12, 2003
Krista Fine walks into the room wearing a gray t-shirt that says Florida Atlantic University women's soccer on it with adidas shorts and sandals on and her blond hair in a bun without making a sound. It's as though she could sneak up and surprise you. On the soccer field you sure as heck would notice her when she comes running by you to win the long ball that you thought you were home free to win. Offenses fear her on the field with her aggressive play and speed but opposing teams would probably pass her in a crowd walking around campus.
If you don't know who Fine is yet, let the accolades tell you who she is. Fine became the first defender in Lady Owl history to earn Atlantic Sun Defensive Player-of-the-Week honors. She became the first defender in program history to be named All-Conference First-Team and she became the first athlete in program history to be named to the SoccerBuzz "Elite Team of the Week." This is Krista Fine.
Fine has become the premier marking back in the A-Sun as she consistently shuts down opposing teams top forwards week in and week out. During last year's match against Jacksonville University, she completely shut down A-Sun Player-of-the-Year Vanessa Illanes, holding her to one shot that wasn't close to making it towards the goal. Against Jacksonville State, she held one of the top scoring forwards shotless. This is Krista Fine.
"Krista kind of redefines the position," said Head Coach Brian Dooley. "She is kind of unorthodox in what she does but she does it all the time. Nobody gets by her, she tackles the ball, she wins headers and she is just a thorn in a forwards side."
Fine started playing soccer when she was eight years old. Her father played soccer at a small school in New Jersey while her brother played soccer in high school. So it was only natural that she take up the sport that her family had been accustomed to playing. Though her mother wanted her to play the piano when she was young and she tried out for the cheerleading team her freshman year of high school, she would not be deterred from playing soccer. Krista played four years on the varsity team of Atlantic High School in Delray, slowly gaining steam for a college career in soccer but in a position that was destined for her.
"I played forward all four years of high school but I loved playing defense for my Palm Beach United club team. I didn't want to be a forward in college," said Fine. "Coach Taylor [of PB United] put me in defense and had me mark the other teams best forwards. And that's what I did and I thought I did it pretty well."
Defense became her calling and teams in the A-Sun have been sulking ever since. Watching Fine on the soccer field can be a topsy-turvy experience. Her energy level is always on high as she can be found running all over the field but her un-orthodox game leaves people wondering, how she does what she does. Fine can routinely be seen jump-kicking line drives out of the air, flying around in the air on headers and using her body any way possible to prevent a shot from even getting off.
"I'm a very aggressive player," said Fine. "I don't lose the ball and I know that if a girl is on a breakaway that I can catch up to her and stop the play. Speed, aggressiveness and determination are my strengths. If I lose the ball, I'm going to get it back.
"I love how I play though. I like to have that certain role. The coach tells me to run around the field after their best player and that's what I do. If I need to play a zone, that's what I do."
At one point during every game, the forward mentality will come out when she dribbles a ball up the middle of the field to the opposing team's box. But she quickly realizes that she is far away from where she needs to be, passes the ball to the nearest midfielder and quickly retreats to her mark. As Dooley puts it, she is like a puppy that has run out of the house and realizes that she is not where she should be and quickly retreats back to the house. Defending is where she is most comfortable, even though she can still get a header on goal every now and then.
Once the game is over though, Fine turns from Mr. Hyde into Dr. Jekyll. Her calm, quiet demeanor broke only when she is goofing around with her teammates and following her convictions. She quietly gets good grades and quietly walks around campus; she transforms into a very soft spoken young woman who would never have the thought of leaping over someone to get a header.
"I'm almost a completely different person when I get on the field than when I'm off the field," said Fine. "In school I'm pretty organized and I get good grades and make sure I get everything done. But once I'm on the field, it's a completely different story. I take my aggressiveness off the field only when it's something that I firmly believe in. If I firmly believe in something then I'll go all out defending it. But for the most part, I think about myself slide tackling a person on the field and it's no big deal but when I think about slide tackling someone off the field, it's a horrible thing. My mom and my grandparents don't understand how I change but my dad knows."
Though she is unclear how exactly she became a high energy player, she's very happy to embrace it. Her catch-up speed more than makes up for her partner in the back, Danielle Castro, lack of speed. Each player compliments each for the perfect blend of speed, aggression, ball handling and composure.
"Dee Dee [Castro's nickname] and I make the perfect team," said Fine. "If there were two of me then someone could get by and we wouldn't be that composed, Dee Dee is good at that. She can place the ball anywhere also. But if there were two of her, that team may not have enough aggression or speed. We just work off of each other."
In her last year at FAU, Fine is looking for the one thing that has eluded her, a conference tournament championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. For all of her hard work she wants to see the fruits of her determination and make it all the way. She is driven towards that goal and will do anything to make it happen but she won't be cocky about it.
"I consider every game challenging; it doesn't matter if it's a top-25 team or small division two school. If you go into a game too cocky then you're probably going to lose or start the game on the wrong foot. Our team isn't cocky; our big thing is we play with a lot of heart. When we play with heart and fire, we can beat any team."
She's a tough, resilient, determined player who uses her speed and aggression to overtake her opponents. She may be quiet off the field but her actions speak louder than words on the field. This is Krista Fine.
By Chad Beattie
