Liz Masterson is a 23-year-old midfielder for the Rochester Raging Rhinos women's soccer team. She grew up in Colorado where she played multiple sports, then attended St. Lawrence University in New York where she was a star soccer player. After college, she played semi-professional soccer for the Massachusetts Stingers. She now coaches soccer at Manhattanville College while also playing for the Rhinos. The article provides details about her athletic career and hopes to someday play professional soccer if a women's league is reestablished in the United States.

1. www.rochesterinsider.comJUNE1,2007INSIDER
[ ]PEOPLE profile
Growing up in Steamboat Springs, Colo., Liz
Masterson was an avid soccer player, skier,
snowboarder and ice hockey player.
Since moving to New York state in 2001
to attend St. Lawrence Univer-
sity in Canton, St. Lawrence
County, the 23-year-old
has made quite a name
for herself.
While in school
she was chosen for
the National Soccer
Coaches Association
of America First
Team. She also was
named four times to
the First Team All-
Conference team.
For about a year after col-
lege, she played semi-pro soccer
for the Massachusetts Stingers.
And in 2006, she joined the
Rochester Raging Rhinos
women’s soccer team as
co-captain.
STORY BY PAM COWAN
pamc@rochesterinsider.com
PHOTOS BY MATT WITTMEYER
mattw@rochesterinsider.com
LIZ MASTERSON
LIZ MASTERSON (IN LESS THAN A MINUTE)
ROCHESTER RHINOS WOMEN’S TEAM
AGE: 23
OCCUPATIONS: Assistant coach for the women’s
soccer team at Manhattanville College in Pur-
chase, Westchester County; mid-fielder for the
Rochester Rhinos women’s team
RESIDENCE: Rochester during the Rhinos’ season
and Westchester County the rest of the year
EDUCATION: 2005 graduate of St. Lawrence
University with a bachelor’s degree in govern-
ment. She’s currently getting her master’s in
sports business management at Manhattanville
College.
ON PLAYING IN ROCHESTER:
“I think the Rhinos offer the women’s side a lot
more,” though they don’t get paid. “I like that our
coach, Peter (Amos), is really involving us in the
community. We also get to play in a stadium.”
ON WHO THEY PLAY:
“Pretty much Canadian teams — Toronto, Ottawa,
Laval and Hamilton. One team from Vermont.”
ON PLAYING FOR FREE:
“We just grew up never knowing that we could get
paid, so we play because we love the game.”
PREGAME RITUAL: “I do a crossword puzzle.”
Before the 2007 season got
under way, Masterson, a center
midfielder, talked with insider
about her career and her hopes to
some day play in a fully profes-
sional league.
Why did you focus on this sport?
I think it’s mostly the friendships
that I made on my team (as a child) that
really attracted me to soccer and kept me
playing. I still have friends from when I was
10 years old who were on my soccer team.
You’re from Colorado. What made
you choose St. Lawrence University?
They have a Division I hockey program.
When I went there, I was planning on walk-
ing on to the hockey team … I went there
for preseason for soccer, and about a month
into it, I would have had to start practicing
for hockey as well. (She opted not to do that.)
After college you played semi-pro
soccer with the Massachusetts
Stingers. Was there a big difference be-
tween playing college and pro soccer?
Oh, yeah. It was a huge step for me. The
speed of play was incredibly fast compared
to what I was used to, and I had an ad-
justment period, for sure, in that first sea-
son. … Because this is a summer league, a
lot of people are there to just train for their
college teams so they aren’t really there. It’s
not their No. 1 season, it’s their backup. …
For some of us, it is our No. 1 season; it’s all
we have to look forward to.
Why did you choose to leave them
and come to Rochester and play for
the women’s team?
The experience I have had with the Rhinos
was far greater than the experience I had
with the Stingers. … The Stingers aren’t
associated with a men’s team, so we were
playing on high school fields that were really
horrible and in poor condition. When we
traveled … we would have to drive our own
cars. … It’s much different with the Rhinos.
At what level do women soccer
players get paid?
At the professional level women are paid,
but since 2003 there has not been a profes-
sional women’s league in our country, so
this is really the highest level of women’s
soccer — besides the national team.
If the league is reinstated (there has
been talk that it will happen in
2008), will you try out for a team?
I would love to. … Honestly, I think at
most I could probably be a practice player,
but … that’s what I keep playing for — the
idea that (I) could try out to play on a pro-
fessional team. ◆
Ẅ
ẅ
Ẇ
ẇ
Ẉ
ẉ
LIZ MASTERSON (IN LESS THAN A MINUTE)
10