Capuano makes Spaniards go 'damn'

Unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection. SoccerBuzz.com National Elite Team Player of the Week. Two-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week. The leader of four high school varsity championship teams - in three different sports.

Needless to say, women's soccer senior Natalie Capuano hasn't had problems with impressing her coaches, teammates or opponents.

Yet she has since discovered that those accolades don't necessarily go too far off well-trimmed NCAA fields. The dusty thoroughfares in Alicante certainly aren't as pretty - and the local 11-year-old fútbol studs are far harder to dazzle.

"The boys [with whom we played] in Spain wouldn't let me play at first because I was a girl," the tri-captain said, referring to the pick-up games she joined this summer when studying abroad in the coastal Spanish town.

Capuano resorted to what got her to Penn in the first place: some old-fashioned showing off.

"Once they saw me take a shot on goal, they were like, 'Damn!' and they let me in," she recalled with a laugh.

The Quakers' premiere midfielder has only met this kind of initial resistance a few times over her career. As a four-year letterwinner in high school, Capuano was rarely seen gracing the bench at the beginning of a game - soccer, softball or basketball.

Her athletic versatility is so profound that Penn softball coach Leslie King even called on her to pinch-run in a handful of games last season. (Capuano got her running in, stealing a few bases.)

But as with many athletes, coming to Penn was a different story. "Our first game, I didn't even start," Capuano said. "[Head coach Darren Ambrose] wanted me to earn that. . It showed me that you have to work for the things that you want."

Since then, the Ashton, Pa., native has shown no opposition to said work. Part of a 2007 defense that allowed only 15 goals in 18 matches, Capuano's tenacity has since banked her 46 starts, National Soccer Coaches Association of America second-team honors, an NCAA postseason run and the Quakers' first outright Ivy League title.

Of course, she hopes her final legacy includes another one of those trophies, with perhaps playoff win as the cherry on top. (Penn's 2007 bid was halted with a first-round loss to James Madison last year.)

"She embodies the competitiveness of our program," Ambrose said. "She always brings 110 percent."

The Red and Blue will need her. Their upcoming schedule boasts difficult matchups in an extremely strong local region. Though hesitant to separate herself from the team as a whole, Capuano did touch on some personal vengeance she hopes to achieve this fall - and the perpetrators are but an R5 train ride away.

"Villanova is just one of the many teams that we'd like to come out against hard," she said. "We didn't do so well against them last year, but this year would be a chance to turn that around. Also, a lot of my good friends play on Villanova.

"We'll definitely be looking out for them. It's a pride issue." Whether Capuano is defined by her awards or her ability to impress Alicante's playground best, Ambrose is certain she will be an integral part of Penn's title aspirations.

"Natalie's talent and desire are immense, and they often go unnoticed," he said.

Perhaps she'll just have to do a bit more showing off.

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