Kicking it up a notch
Framingham freshman leads Harvard in scoring
M elanie Baskind could be forgiven if she felt a little overwhelmed by the thought of playing a Division 1 sport while pursuing an Ivy League education.
Yet throughout the summer, Baskind took on her upcoming challenge with the determination of someone who rarely loses a 50-50 ball on the pitch.
In her hometown of Framingham, she kicked soccer balls against the brick walls at Brophy Elementary School; she ran sprints in intervals around Bowditch Field. Anything to stay on top of her game.
Three months into her soccer career at Harvard University, there isn't a stutter in her step.
There never has been.
At Framingham High, she helped power the Flyer girls' lacrosse team to 50 straight wins and back-to-back Division 1 state titles. On the soccer field, she earned all-state honors as a senior, fueling Framingham's march to the Division 1 North sectional final against eventual state champion Acton-Boxborough Regional. At the conclusion of her senior year, she was named the Boston Globe's Female Athlete of the Year.
But suiting up for the Crimson has proven to be a whole new ballgame, she said. In high school, she played three games per week. At Harvard, every day has the feel of a game day.
"I like to think that I'm working as hard as I can, but the intensity here is on a whole other level," Baskind said.
That isn't to say the joy has been sucked out of the experience, though.
"It's actually been a blessing to have soccer to look forward to as a study break," she said. "Some say soccer has the potential to add stress. For me, it's the complete opposite, and I'm enjoying every minute of it."
She has been handling it all in a very unfreshman-like manner. Leading up to Friday's NCAA tournament first-round matchup against Northeastern, Baskind had started every game but one, leading the Crimson in scoring with 19 points (six goals, seven assists) and a 12.8 shot percentage.
In her short time on campus, she has already begun to carry herself like an upperclassman, a trait that head coach Ray Leone noticed during the recruitment process. Leone fondly recalls watching her play for her summer league club following her junior year at Framingham.
"She was warming up the whole team by herself. Even though she was a youngster, she was a leader out there," Leone said.
At 5-foot-3, Baskind hasn't had a lot of success winning balls in the air; but on the ground, she has won the confidence of her coaching staff and teammates with her footwork.
"It's forced me to become a smarter player. I rely on my quickness," Baskind said. "I'm not great in the air, but I can make up for it with my feet."
Noted Leone, "She's just got a good first touch. Early, she had to learn we had an all-around good team, and she started to pass the ball more. She's really found the right balance of when to take people on and when to pass the ball up."
So with that said, height is irrelevant?
"I guess you've never met my wife, who's 4-11," Leone laughed, speaking of one of his assistant coaches, Tracy Leone, who starred at North Carolina in the late 1980s and spent five years with the US Women's National Team in the '90s.
Baskind credits those sessions behind the Brophy School this summer with helping her adjust. When she wasn't off on her own, she was out with the Medfield-based Azzurri squad in the Eastern Massachusetts Women's Soccer League, playing alongside former Flyers teammates such as Shauna Kaplan, now a sophomore at New Hampshire.
She talks frequently with friends such as Kaplan, Boston University sophomore Casey Brown of Natick, and former Framingham lacrosse standout Kristen Igoe, now a sophomore attack for Boston College. Baskind's sister, Julie, is a senior on the University of Michigan lacrosse squad.
"We talked a lot in the preseason about how weird it is not being the oldest one on the team, not knowing everyone's name," Baskind said. "It's not that common to have an unbelievable preseason."
On the flip side, it's not that common to contribute this quickly, either.
Brendan Hall can be reached at bhall50@hotmail.com 