Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Marshall Makes Major Mark
October 29, 2009 | Soccer, B.G. Brooks
Hempen, Colorado's veteran soccer coach, looks first at Marshall's heart, her character, her refreshing lack of ego. And then he realizes full well and fully embraces what has made her a cut above.
Before we get too far into Marshall's story, though, here's what you must know about Hempen: If Marshall's parents - Mike and Kelly, of Mead, Colo. - came up short in any areas of her upbringing (which is very doubtful), Hempen has filled in the gaps with Nikki, just as he has done with his other players.
An import from Duke's soccer program nine seasons ago, Hempen goes beyond being a detail guy. After the Buffaloes' home games, he "suggests" that his players police the area underneath Prentup's portable stands, move the team benches, and generally help the groundskeepers do whatever is required to complete their postgame duties.
His reasoning: "Our grounds guys are awesome. If my team can take half an hour to help, save them some time . . . it's two or three less things they have to do.
"We are who we are; we have to appreciate what we have. There's a lot of life lessons we teach - lots of them."
Marshall has learned them well. In a spectacular freshman season (2006), she set a school record for goals in a single game (four), then matched it this season against Oklahoma and added an assist to set the CU record for points in a single game.
The day after that performance, Hempen wasn't surprised - appreciative, yes; surprised, no way - when he noticed Marshall in the equipment room helping student trainers fold and put away towels.
"She saw they needed help and she didn't think twice about it," he recalled. "Nikki's in there folding towels the day after she breaks that record . . . "
Marshall's records, her talent, her passion for the game are obvious. But it is her day-to-day manner that awes Hempen, his staff and her teammates.
"Really, there's nothing about the way she approached the game that's changed, from the first time she came to practice as a freshman, to this morning - she's all in," he said.
"Some (players) want to take a day off, but that's why she is who she is. Sometimes kids still don't get it . . . sometimes kids get sick of hearing about it, but it's standing right there - your model is standing right there.
"It's not the speed, not the goals; it's how she approaches every day on the soccer field - like it's her last day."
And, suddenly, here it is. Friday is her last game, at least the final one of regular-season play, at Prentup Field. Needing to finish strong in this one, as well as in the upcoming Big 12 Conference Tournament to assure a berth in the NCAA Tournament, the Buffs play Texas Tech (3 p.m., FSN).
Hempen is more attuned to the big picture than the poignant snapshot of Senior Day. Along with Marshall, Ally Goodman, Kara Linder, Kelly Menachof, Tobie Rippy and Mary White will be honored in a post-game celebration.
Shedding a tear is a given for Hempen, who came close to it nearly 3 months ago on media day when pondering Marshall's final CU season.
"Am I going to shed a tear? Absolutely, I am going to," he said. "But at the same, we have a job to do, and I think she knows we have a job to do.
"If we were sitting here guaranteed an NCAA Tournament bid, if we were sitting here on the brink of winning the Big 12, it would be a little different. We're still fighting for our lives.
"All those emotions are going to have to be kept in check as we go out and try to take care of business."
I asked him about struggling to keep his emotions in check on media day when recapping Marshall's career and what she has meant to his program.
"Every senior has their place in your heart - some a little bit bigger than others," he said. "It's never easy to watch a kid walk out the door - especially one that's complete.
"But it's so much more than the goals, so much more than the defense - all the stuff that's soccer oriented. It's as much about the person she is and the person she's become."
To Marshall, the past four years "have flown by . . . it seems like yesterday I was a freshman, now Shaye (her younger sister and now a CU teammate) is freshman. Where did the time go?"
For the record(s), her time at CU was fashioned into a career that will see her leave with three career records (points - 91, goals - 41, and game-winning goals - 17) and 10 single-game or season marks.
She has been all-everything in the Big 12, and after her debut season in 2006, the conference should have considered renaming its "Newcomer of the Week" award "The Nikki." She won it four times and, obviously, was the league's "Newcomer of the Year."
Hempen's recruitment of Marshall has proved to him that no town is too small, no high school too hidden, to produce a national caliber player.
Taking notice of former CU stars Fran Munnelly (Mullen High School) and Katie Griffin (Scottsdale, Ariz.) wasn't difficult. That pair made everyone's radar; Marshall hardly was a blip.
 "She was the obscure one," Hempen said. "That gives hope to me . . . I know who all the best kids in Colorado are supposed to be, but I want to find the one that nobody knows. They're out there.
"A kid in Meade or up in mountains on the Western Slope might be that kind of a kid . . . Kids come in and say, 'Are you done with your recruiting class?' Well, no, not if you're any good. We're never done, because you never know where that kid is going to come from."
Once at CU and suited up, the lithe kid from Mead quickly became a memory maker. Hempen's top Marshall memory from that first year:
"She scores four goals against Clemson, and after the fourth, she comes running over to the sidelines and says, 'I don't know if I'm making the right moves.'
"Paul (associate head coach Paul Hogan) and I look at each other and say, 'Is she serious? Just keep doing what you're doing . . . they're letting you run out behind them, so go do it.'"
The 5-foot-7 Marshall kept on doing it then, has ever since and will continue, predicts Hempen. "Now that there's a pro league, she'll be our first pro," he said, adding that view is shared by former USA National Team coaches Jill Ellis (UCLA) and Tony DiCicco (Boston Breakers).
After three days of watching Marshall practice, they relayed to Hempen that she would make their team "not because she was the most skillful, not because of anything else but that she's a winner.
"Most of successful teams out there have some like that - and you don't ignore that. Wherever she goes, they're going to end up winning."
The Buffs haven't done enough of that this season to suit either Marshall or Hempen. Suffering four losses in a recent five-game road trip, they're 8-9-0 overall and 5-4 in the Big 12, marks that perturb Hempen as the final stretch looms.
"Right now, this is disappointing where we are," he said. "In conference, it might be OK, but on national scene, it's no good. Nikki feels somewhat responsible, but the rest of the team has to understand that it can't be that way."
At times, Hempen said, Marshall's teammates "stand back and watch too often . . . you try and make them realize that Nik's good, but she can't do it by herself.
"Too often, it's been kick it to Nikki and see if something good happens. She doesn't want the team to be that kind of team. We have talented players around her, but it's probably been a drawback because she can be so dynamic.
"But now the weight of having to succeed weighs heavy on that kid's shoulders; she thinks the entire program is counting on her.
"Four years in, everybody knows who she is. As a freshman, it was, 'Who is that kid?' They didn't know how to deal with her; now they do. Everybody else has to be a little bit better."
Marshall chuckles about her pals occasionally becoming in-game spectators, but noted, "My teammates know how I am; I don't think they expect too much from me.
"But I never feel like I do as much as I can. I haven't scored as much (this season) as I could, and that feels like a disappointment."
Friday's Senior Day will be bittersweet. Marshall's parents will attend, but that's common; they've been to the Prentup pitch for all of her games and have traveled to most of CU's away games.
Earlier in the week, the grounds crew painted the seniors' numbers on the pitch. When Marshall looked at her No. 17, "It made my stomach queasy."
By her count, there are a "million moments" to recall, but the one that "motivates and inspires" her was during her freshman season when CU defeated Texas A&M for the first time.
"I remember being at the bottom of a big dog pile, with Katie Griffin and all those players . . . I'll always remember that moment, for sure," she said.
"Colorado's been so good for me, not just in soccer, but the whole school, the education . . . it's all been great. It's benefitted me so much and made me ready to take a new step in life."
But first, there are steps to be taken, sprints to be made, Friday on Senior Day. One very special CU senior promises to "leave my heart on the field - not that I don't every game.
"But this time, there's going to be that extra push. It'll be sad when it's over, but it's going to be pretty cool when we're all out there."
As her coach said, Nikki Marshall is "all in" - every time, all the time. Friday, and whatever follows, will be no different.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
