Former Lady Cavs field hockey standout Sta’sha Waterfield made an impact in her first year of college field hockey.

A strong freshman year at Queens University of Charlotte saw the 2016 Lakeland High School graduate carve out a significant role quickly. In her first year as a Lady Royal, she played the most minutes on the team as a freshman with 995 minutes. She also led the team in defensive saves with three. Nonetheless, Waterfield is satisfied with how her freshman season went.

“It was everything I expected it to be and more,” Waterfield said. “I definitely made the right decision by choosing Queens. I love my team, school and Charlotte in general.”

Waterfield started all 16 games and maintained that position throughout the rest of the season. However, she felt her biggest adjustment came academically. After a couple of challenges here and there in the classroom, Waterfield was able to make the Dean’s List as a result of her hard work.

She has embraced being one of the focal points on the team. She doesn’t want to let her teammates or coaches down.

“I strive to be the player that doesn’t back down when facing high caliber opponents,” she said. “My coaches know what I am capable of and expect nothing less than 100 percent. Whether it be practices, games or the classroom, they have high standards for me.”

As a defender, Waterfield doesn’t get many opportunities to score. However, she did score three goals, and her first goal happened to be a game winner. It came against Seton Hill University in a double-overtime game. With Waterfield’s goal, Queens won 2-1.

“I was thrilled that I came up in the clutch situation for my team,” she said. “It validated all the hard work I had put in and the belief I have in myself.”

She had three goals for her freshman year she wanted to accomplish, and she achieved all of them. One of them was to earn a starting spot, and the other was to excel in the classroom. Additionally, she wanted to be the best teammate she could be.

As her sophomore season approaches, she is looking forward to winning more games. She also wants to help bring the incoming freshmen along. If possible, the former Lady Cav also seeks to score a few more goals and record a few more defensive saves.

At Lakeland, she was an all-conference selection in field hockey and was a standout on the softball team as well.