Fortunately for the Drexel women’s soccer program, Melissa Chapman listens to her elders.
When the Landsdale, Pennsylvania, native was a high school student looking at colleges, three criteria stood above the rest: she wanted to attend a university in a city, one with top-rate academics, and she needed to play big-time collegiate soccer. She found her answer in the cafeteria at the retirement home where she worked, from the mouths of the residents who lived there.
“A lot of the residents said, 100 percent, go to Drexel,” Chapman says. “I learned a lot from some of those retirees.”
Drexel owes them a debt of gratitude as well. A four-year starter, Chapman ended her career in November as the women’s soccer program’s eighth all-time leading goal scorer — a particularly impressive feat considering she’s a defender.
“She’s been tremendously important to our team,” head coach Ray Goon says. “The team had confidence in her and they just knew that she was going to be an imposing figure in the back. She allowed everyone else to focus on their jobs.”
In addition to soccer, Chapman played basketball and softball while growing up. But it was the physicality and the fine line between winning and losing that made soccer her true love.
She began the first game of her Drexel career on the bench, then started the second and never looked back. She ended her career tied for fifth on the school’s all-time games-played list. Despite being a hard-nosed defender, she tallied 10 goals over the course of her career, including a team co-leading five this season.
“She’s really strong in the air,” Goon says.
“A lot of her goals came off of designed plays. Even though that’s a strong trait for her, it’s also very well known on scouting reports. To give her credit, even though she’s many times double-teamed, she still finds a way. When she sees the ball, she’s going to get to it.”
That’s exactly what happened on Oct. 12 in Williamsburg, Virginia, when the Dragons were battling William & Mary in overtime.
“There was a foul near half, and Alyssa Findlay took the free kick,” Chapman recalls. “It was me and a William & Mary defender close to the goal line. I knew this was the opportunity, so I dove and stuck my head out and reached the ball first. I got a foot to the face, but it was definitely worth it.”
When the adrenaline wore off the next day she had a slight headache, but no regrets. A three-time First Team All-Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) selection, Chapman helped lead Drexel to its first two appearances in the conference tournament. She did so, her teammates say, by example.
“She motivates people by the effort she puts in,” says senior goalkeeper Eve Badana, who describes her former roommate as quiet at first, then silly in a lovable way. “She was a really big presence on the field. There were a lot of times when she came out of nowhere and saved the back line. If you didn’t know her you’d think she was just a wrecking ball. She’ll go up for 50-50 balls and I’ll put my money on her every time to win it.”
As a kid, Chapman would tag along with her dad as he drove 18-wheelers. As the rig rumbled over bridges, she sat captivated. The structures still amaze her. A civil engineering major, she’s completed co-ops for the Philadelphia Streets Department and in the transportation division of Pennoni Associates Inc. Both experiences confirmed that she would enjoy her chosen career: building bridges. Literally.
Soccer, she says, will help. “You have to take initiative on the field if you want something to get done, and it’s the same thing in the classroom and in the workforce,” she says.
A three-time CAA Commissioner’s Academic Award recipient, Chapman is scheduled to gradu- ate in June 2016. The harsh reality of collegiate athletics is that a four-year career seems as if it passes in a flash. Although Chapman’s is over, she’ll remain a part of the team next season in some capacity.
“I love the game and I’m so happy that I started playing when I was 8 years old and I was able to play throughout college,” she says. “It was a great privilege and something I’ll never forget.”