Sept. 9, 2008

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Playing soccer is almost a tradition in the Osorio household. Spartanburg native, Carmen Osorio, USC Upstate's co-captain, is in her third year on the Upstate women's soccer team. Her father, Carlos Osorio, is the head men's soccer coach at Dorman High School and like his daughter, also played collegiate soccer at USC Upstate.

Last season, Osorio finished tied for the team lead in assists with three. She is frequently one of the busiest and most active players on the field, assisting in both the offensive and defensive aspects of play. As a midfielder and captain who observes both sides of the field, Osorio understands the importance of communication to and with her teammates and is often the loudest on the field.

Osorio and the rest of the Spartan team will host the Carolinas Border Classic tournament this weekend, where the Spartans will be competing against Winthrop and Gardner-Webb.

Recently, Osorio spoke with Sarah Hurd of upstatespartans.com about her style of play and expectations.

As captains, what is most important to you and Liz Pontillo throughout the season?
The most important thing for us is to just stay positive all the time and lead by example. We realize that we need to stay accountable for them and ourselves and follow through on what we say. We want the team to have fun and to do that we need to encourage them and stay positive.

What's it like playing soccer at the same school that your dad played at?
It's really great because it means something to me and gives me a strong sense of pride. It meant so much to him when he was here playing and he loves coming to watch me. It's a big deal for me to be able to follow in his footsteps and I take it very seriously.

If you're losing a close game at the half, what's your mentality and how do you try and pump the team up for the second half?
This year I'm trying to stay as positive as possible. If we didn't have a strong first half, I'll try and keep our girls' heads in the game and get their spirits back up so we can have a better second half.

Do you plan on playing soccer after college?
I do want to play locally on an intramural team because it would be fun to play all year-round, but I'm not looking for anything too serious. I'll probably continue to play soccer until I can't play anymore.

If you didn't play soccer, what other sport would you play?
Volleyball. I really like how after every kill or point the team is always picking each other up, celebrating and cheering on teammates. I think that it would be a good atmosphere for me to be in and it seems fun and enjoyable.

How has your style of play changed when making the transition from Division II to Division I?
I've had to work a lot harder to get in shape and take on more responsibility compared to when we were in Division II. It's much more serious now and it requires more hard work, concentration and sacrifices.

As a midfielder, you're constantly in motion and covering nearly the whole field. How do you motivate yourself and/or your teammates when you're fatigued or someone makes a mistake?
In any sport, especially soccer, players are going to make mistakes. I tell them not to worry about it, learn from it and be prepared for the next play. Each player gets motivated differently so I'll use what I know about a teammate and do whatever I can to pick her back up. I think that the team usually feeds off my energy so I try and stay pumped up.

This year's team is young with eight freshman and eight sophomores. What can we expect to see from this year's team that may be different from last year's squad?
The younger players bring a lot of enthusiasm to the team because they're excited to be here and experience soccer at the college level, so I would say overall we have more energy. Our freshman class is very talented and our sophomores that have returned have improved tremendously within the last year. We expect better results with this year's team.

The pre-season coaches' poll picked USC Upstate to finish 10th in the league standings. Do you think you can surprise some people this season and top that prediction?
Definitely. We like being the underdog, especially this season. We lost some close games last year that we should have won but we learned from them. I think many teams may think our game will be an easy one on their schedule but we know we're going to play hard. We're getting better every day so we'll be ready to compete.

If you could pick one place in the world to travel to, where would you go and why?
I would go back to Columbia, South America, because my dad is from there. I haven't been there since I was seven so it would be completely different for me to go back there now. I really take pride in having family there and look forward to traveling there again someday.