Soccer has always been senior midfielder Stephanie Keating’s true love, but her collegiate career forced her to travel along a rocky and winding road before she was able to truly pursue her passion.
This road ran through the University of Tampa and the University of Florida before finally leading her to LSU.
Keating desired to play Division I soccer and possessed the talent, but she was unable to attend many of the schools due to academic requirements.
LSU coach George Fotopoulos was coaching for his alma mater, the University of Tampa, at the time and worked with Keating’s club team. Keating said Fotopoulos encouraged her to play for Division II Tampa and transfer to a D-I school after a year.
The Vero Beach, Fla. native excelled her freshman year as she was named the Sunshine State Conference Freshman of the year. Keating set a school record with 18 goals and 11 assists. Her work in the classroom matched her play as she earned the honor of being named to the SSC Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
Fotopoulos moved to LSU following her freshman year in 1999, but Keating did not follow him. She chose to stay in Florida to play for the perennial Southeastern Conference powerhouse Florida Gators.
Playing soccer for the Gators was not all that Keating thought it would be. She took only two shots in the entire season in her limited playing time averaging 18 minutes in 10 games.
“I started to fall back and didn’t know what I wanted to do,” Keating said. “So I turned to the one coach that I always believed in and that always believed in me.”
That coach was Fotopoulos. Keating decided to transfer to LSU, which required her to sit out a year and redshirt a season.
“It was a tough decision knowing that I would have to redshirt and sit out a year,” she said. “Yes, I was disappointed sitting out and I had some hard times. It was frustrating being a practice player, but it was encouraging knowing that I would eventually be able to play.”
Even though Keating was unable to play in games and was relegated to being a practice player, she was able to make an impact for the team.
“During the time that she was sitting, she really helped me,” said senior midfielder Jen deHay. “She’ll help out certain individuals and bring out the best in them. She just makes you love the game because she loves it so much.”
Keating went on to start in all 20 of LSU’s games the following year and set the school record for assists in a season, with 10. She also showed her former school a bit of her talent as she scored the lone goal in the Tigers’ 1-1 tie with defending SEC champion Florida.
“She’s a tremendous playmaker for us,” said LSU assistant coach Tracy Hay. “She’s a great shooter for us and brings a real great offense presence for us. We’re lucky to have her.”
The LSU soccer team counts on Keating to lead the team on the field. Thus far she has not disappointed, leading the Tigers in assist again this season with six along with three goals.
“She is truly our best player even with the amount of talent we have on this team,” said assistant coach Ricky Zambrano. “We really rely a lot upon her as far as the flow of our game goes and Sunday’s game is a good indication of that. She had a goal and an assist and we get a win. We haven’t had any output the last couple of games then she stepped up a took a bit of a leadership role. It shows the level of play that Stephanie Keating can bring to the team.”
Keating’s competitiveness shows in her frequent competitions with her teammate, junior goalie Robyn DesOrmeaux. Keating attempts to score a goal on DesOrmeaux and the one with the best record at the end of the competition gets bragging rights until the next time.
“Since she is a goal scorer and mostly offense, it’s a friendly rivalry between us,” DesOrmeaux said. “We talk smack to each other all the time, but it’s a lot of fun and raises the intensity level.”
Junior forward Artie Brown said Keating is not the most outspoken member of the team, but her leadership is essential and visible.
“She’s not much of a vocal leader, but she tries to lead by example,” Brown said. “She is very intense and focused for practice and tries to set the tone for practice. We look to Steph as being the leader and try to be as focused as she is.”
Keating’s roommate, senior midfielder Rachel Cohen said Keating has always worked hard even before she was looked to as a leader.
“She’s always had that work ethic,” Cohen said. “She doesn’t ask for any kind of recognition.”
Cohen said Keating’s contribution off the field nearly match her outstanding output on the field.
“On the field she’s been the cornerstone of our program for the past two years,” Cohen said. “Off the field, she’s been there for whoever needs her.”
Keating had hoped to go on to play in the Women’s United Soccer Association, but it recently folded. She now wants to play her last season with all she has then go on to coach a NCAA women’s soccer team.
“My dream is to play in the WUSA,” Keating said. “It was discouraging when I found out that they folded not just for myself but for the sport of women’s soccer. Now I always have in the back in my head that this is my last season playing soccer so I have to leave it all on the field. I really want to coach on a college level.”