General of the Week: Megan Engeland, ’19

Megan Engeland, ’19, from Yardley, Penn., has recently come off her first career hat trick for the Washington and Lee women’s soccer team in a 6-0 victory over Averett. She plays forward and center midfield for the defending ODAC champion Generals, who improved to 2-2-1 with the win. The Phi sat down with Engeland to discuss her success.

Ring-tum Phi: What made you decide to play college soccer?

Megan Engeland: I started playing soccer when I was two. Going through elementary school I tried everything and soccer is what stuck. Going into high school I loved it and couldn’t imagine not playing it in college.

Phi: What did scoring your first hat trick feel like?

ME: It was definitely a new feeling, exciting and a little odd at the same time because most of our games aren’t that high scoring, so it’s not something I ever really expected to happen. Things just really flowed that game with our team and I was in the right place at the right time. My teammates did most of the work getting me the ball, but it was a good feeling finally finishing some opportunities.

Phi: How do you think the season is going so far?

ME: I think the season is going well. We obviously would have liked to win some more out-of-league games and have a better record at this point, but I think we’ve really built on a good pre-season and we’ve made a lot of progress. Things are starting to click and I think we’re in a really good spot moving forward and entering ODAC play.

Phi: What is your favorite part about soccer?

ME: Obviously everyone loves to win; I love winning with my teammates. I’d say being a part of a team is my favorite. Getting to celebrate wins with everyone. Also, when we lose, it’s great to have a whole group there with you who’s also frustrated but knows we can work hard and win the next game.

Phi: What do you think are some of this year’s team’s strengths?

ME: One major one we have touched on a lot this season is our depth. We were really deep last year because we brought in a lot of freshman and we brought in a big group again this year. They’re good and they work hard so they’re going to contribute some time. That means people won’t have to play a full 90 minutes. They’ll get to rest, we’ll get more subs in and everyone will get to contribute. We also gained a lot of speed. We’re a lot faster this year; a lot of the freshman are very fast, so I think that will be a big factor. Lastly, we have always been very fit. We do a really good job in the off-season of working hard to prepare.

Phi: What is currently your favorite W&L soccer memory?

ME: Our ODAC championship last year is an incredible memory and something I’m never going to forget, especially since it was a close game (2-1). Another one for me is playing Shenandoah in the semi-finals. We beat them 5-2, but we had lost to them the first game of the season last year. We hadn’t beaten them all season, and we really wanted to win. That game, it really clicked. We all connected really well [and] we put a lot of goals away.