
Photo by: Matt Hawley/Pitt Athletics
Freshman Phenom Amanda West’s Journey To Pitt and Instant Success
11/25/2019 11:29:00 AM | Women's Soccer
She doesn't know why, but one day when she was four years old, Amanda West told her mom and dad she wanted to play soccer. She continued to ask until they finally signed her up.
The little girl who grew up next to arguably the hockey capital of the world, Toronto, and an even-more hockey crazed family (father was a Boston Bruins draft pick and played pro hockey overseas) may not have known a lot about the game, but she knew she wanted to play.
It didn't take long for her parents to realize that, too.
"When I was maybe six years old, I loved soccer so much, more than anything in the world," West said. "My parents just knew then that soccer was something I was going to stick with… I think that's definitely when they knew I'm in love with the sport and there's nothing more in the world I would rather be doing."
West's love for the sport has only continued to grow. It's what brought her from Burlington, Ontario, to Pittsburgh and helped lead her to a record-setting freshman campaign.
The true freshman finished her season with a team-high 10 goals and nine assists for a program-best 29 points. She also finished the season with a .655 shot-on-goal percentage and four game winning goals, including the overtime goal versus Boston College that gave Pitt its first ACC win in three years.
"I mean to win the first ACC game in three years just means we are on the way up," West said. "I know now there are many more to come and I think that really boosted the whole team's confidence. We realized we can really do this and we can compete with these teams. It was huge, the feeling after that game, every single girl was on cloud nine."
When she decided to come to Pitt, West knew there would be challenges. She knew the program was up-and-coming, but that only motivated her decision more. After talking to the coaching staff, West was convinced she was going to help them turn things around and that's exactly what she wanted.
She didn't want to be a part of a team that was already established.
"I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself," West said. "I wanted to make an impact. I wanted to be a part of a project. Now, Pitt soccer is a part of my project, and I want to turn this thing around."
So far, she is on her way to doing just that. The Panthers finished the season 5-10-3 overall and 2-6-2 in the ACC, their best finish since 2015.
West also became the first Pitt women's soccer player to earn All-ACC honors when she was named to the All-ACC Third and All-Freshmen teams after ending the season tied for third most goals and game winning goals in the conference, fifth in points and tied for fifth in goals.
But she doesn't really care about the honors. West knows she could have done more and that's what she wants to do moving forward.
"I'm happy with what I did, but I know there's a lot more that I could have done," West said. "So with that being said I'm going to keep wanting more, striving for more. This was a really good season to have because in three or four years, looking back on the season, it's going to make everything that much more worthwhile. We'll realize how far we've come, and I think that's really important about my freshman season. We still did a lot that has never been done here before in the program and I think that's a really good sign."
To improve, West is going to continue to work on the things the coaching staff has pointed out to her, making sure she is ready for spring soccer. Then she is going to use spring soccer to get the kinks out and work on the weak areas, so come fall, she is ready to go from the very first game. And will hopefully beat her own record.
West didn't know she was setting the program-record for most points in a season until it was tweeted out after the game. But now that she does know, she is ready for one of her teammates, or even herself, to break it.
"It's a pretty special feeling, but I'm counting on teammates of mine or myself again to break the record that I just broke because that means we are putting more balls in the back of the net and hopefully winning more games along with that," West said. "So I hope my record does not stand for very long, I hope it gets broken next season."
West is at her best when she has space to run on the field. Pace is one of her greatest strengths. So, for her, it's all about space and creating it to run into.
That is exactly what she got when she decided to come to Pitt. West has the space of an up-and-coming program to run with. She has to be able to pace herself and her teammates, to remain steady during the highs and the lows, and so far, that's exactly what she has done.
"My mindset has just always been to win, no matter how many times we lost or the game didn't go our way," West said. "I never felt like we were defeated or were down or out. My mindset was to always keep fighting and to do absolutely everything I could. I think that's why I had the successful year that I had. Because I never stopped believing in myself, my team and what we could do."
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The little girl who grew up next to arguably the hockey capital of the world, Toronto, and an even-more hockey crazed family (father was a Boston Bruins draft pick and played pro hockey overseas) may not have known a lot about the game, but she knew she wanted to play.
It didn't take long for her parents to realize that, too.
"When I was maybe six years old, I loved soccer so much, more than anything in the world," West said. "My parents just knew then that soccer was something I was going to stick with… I think that's definitely when they knew I'm in love with the sport and there's nothing more in the world I would rather be doing."
West's love for the sport has only continued to grow. It's what brought her from Burlington, Ontario, to Pittsburgh and helped lead her to a record-setting freshman campaign.
The true freshman finished her season with a team-high 10 goals and nine assists for a program-best 29 points. She also finished the season with a .655 shot-on-goal percentage and four game winning goals, including the overtime goal versus Boston College that gave Pitt its first ACC win in three years.
"I mean to win the first ACC game in three years just means we are on the way up," West said. "I know now there are many more to come and I think that really boosted the whole team's confidence. We realized we can really do this and we can compete with these teams. It was huge, the feeling after that game, every single girl was on cloud nine."
When she decided to come to Pitt, West knew there would be challenges. She knew the program was up-and-coming, but that only motivated her decision more. After talking to the coaching staff, West was convinced she was going to help them turn things around and that's exactly what she wanted.
She didn't want to be a part of a team that was already established.
"I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself," West said. "I wanted to make an impact. I wanted to be a part of a project. Now, Pitt soccer is a part of my project, and I want to turn this thing around."
So far, she is on her way to doing just that. The Panthers finished the season 5-10-3 overall and 2-6-2 in the ACC, their best finish since 2015.
West also became the first Pitt women's soccer player to earn All-ACC honors when she was named to the All-ACC Third and All-Freshmen teams after ending the season tied for third most goals and game winning goals in the conference, fifth in points and tied for fifth in goals.
But she doesn't really care about the honors. West knows she could have done more and that's what she wants to do moving forward.
"I'm happy with what I did, but I know there's a lot more that I could have done," West said. "So with that being said I'm going to keep wanting more, striving for more. This was a really good season to have because in three or four years, looking back on the season, it's going to make everything that much more worthwhile. We'll realize how far we've come, and I think that's really important about my freshman season. We still did a lot that has never been done here before in the program and I think that's a really good sign."
To improve, West is going to continue to work on the things the coaching staff has pointed out to her, making sure she is ready for spring soccer. Then she is going to use spring soccer to get the kinks out and work on the weak areas, so come fall, she is ready to go from the very first game. And will hopefully beat her own record.
West didn't know she was setting the program-record for most points in a season until it was tweeted out after the game. But now that she does know, she is ready for one of her teammates, or even herself, to break it.
"It's a pretty special feeling, but I'm counting on teammates of mine or myself again to break the record that I just broke because that means we are putting more balls in the back of the net and hopefully winning more games along with that," West said. "So I hope my record does not stand for very long, I hope it gets broken next season."
West is at her best when she has space to run on the field. Pace is one of her greatest strengths. So, for her, it's all about space and creating it to run into.
That is exactly what she got when she decided to come to Pitt. West has the space of an up-and-coming program to run with. She has to be able to pace herself and her teammates, to remain steady during the highs and the lows, and so far, that's exactly what she has done.
"My mindset has just always been to win, no matter how many times we lost or the game didn't go our way," West said. "I never felt like we were defeated or were down or out. My mindset was to always keep fighting and to do absolutely everything I could. I think that's why I had the successful year that I had. Because I never stopped believing in myself, my team and what we could do."
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