Five Questions: Leighann Bennett has led Dryden to 4-1 start

 09/20/2012 ( Ithaca Journal ) 
DRYDEN — For years, girls’ soccer in the Interscholastic Athletic Conference has been dominated by Lansing.
The tide could be turning this year, however. Last week, Dryden knocked off the Bobcats, 1-0, on a goal by freshman Taylor Bennett, little sister of senior Leighann Bennett and younger daughter of the Purple Lions’ coach, Janine Bennett. And that the winning goal was set up by another freshman, Hannah Wildenstein, is evidence that Dryden is poised to be a factor in the IAC and Section 4 for a long time to come.
After its emotional victory last Wednesday against the rival Bobcats, Dryden stumbled two days later against Whitney Point, falling 1-0. But the youthful Lions still figure to have a say in both the league and sectional championship this season.
In this week’s installment of “Five Questions,” we speak to Leighann Bennett, the team’s on-field leader, about the expectations she has for herself and her young team.
How do you judge your team’s play?
We’re very young still. I think we have five ninth-graders that play on the team, so sometimes it’s hard for us to focus because of the maturity of our team. I know that as a whole we’ve stepped it up a lot, but it’s still really hard for us to realize that ... it’s a varsity sport and that we have to push all of ourselves forward to win games. Every game counts for us. Every single game is just as important as the next. It’s been hard at times for us to step up, but we are now refocused and on the right track again.
What are you goals for your senior year?
My goals for myself are just to pretty much improve every day and improve the basic skills that my mom is always reminding me that I need to keep working on — to get myself ready for the college situation that I’m going in. She’s preparing me to do that and it’s helping that she is there to help me along. Team-wise, I’m hoping that we can go pretty far this year. If we keep ourselves focused, we think we can go pretty far in sectionals. We’ve lost in the past three sectionals so we’re hoping to make it through this time.What is the best — and worst — part of having your mom as coach?
The best part is that she’s seen me develop from age 3, when I started playing, to where I am now. (The worst part is) she doesn’t treat us like the other players. She tends to take a lot of things out on me and my sister. But she knows she does that. Taylor and I have pretty much figured out how to separate the coach and the mom. It’s harder for my sister than it is for me, but that also comes with maturity.
What are you most excited about college life and soccer? (Bennett signed her letter of intent to play on scholarship at Binghamton University in February.)
I think the team aspect is my biggest thing. I love how the Binghamton team, when I went to visit, they are all about each other, and there for each other all the time. So being part of that big team and spending every day together.
Are you a fan of U.S. women’s soccer, and has their success had any impact on you?
I look at them like my role models and try to follow what they do. Actually, just (Tuesday) in practice, we watched the U.S. women play and tried to see what we liked out of what they were doing and what we thought should be different. They are definitely role models to a lot of people, and I think it steps up your game after you’ve watched them. You get so intense about the game and you get so excited about it.