Sept. 24, 1999

Columbia, Mo. - Written by Stacy Hollister

Mandy Pavlovits is falling in love again with the game she found as a 4-year-old.

But falling in love is never without its obstacles. Pavlovits has had to hurdle the formidable endeavor of starting over, becoming a virtual freshman at MU after three letter-winning seasons at South Carolina. But for Pavlovits, renewing her love of the game has been worth its challenges. As a young tomboy, Pavlovits followed the footsteps of her older brother to the soccer fields. She played with the big boys, the 7-year-olds. And she took hits not only because she was smaller, but also because she was a girl. But it didn't matter. She loved the game, and at the age of 6, she found a team of girls who loved the game, too.

"I loved it," she said. "It's just a way to express yourself. When you're out there, there's no limits. There's no one telling you what to do. You just go out there and be yourself, and you play."

A natural athlete, Pavlovits had an affinity for sports. Growing up, she dabbled in gymnastics, volleyball, softball and basketball, but soccer was her specialty. During her high school playing days at Incarnate Word in St. Louis, Pavlovits earned Missouri Player of the Year honors after her senior season. Her play caught the eye of Parade Magazine, which listed her as one of ten defenders on its all-America team.

With the accolades came the recruiters. Collegiate offers were abundant, but in the end, Pavlovits chose to move 13 hours from home and become a Gamecock. Attracted by the team's coaching staff and the school's southern charm, Pavlovits picked the University of South Carolina.

But South Carolina wasn't what it appeared to be. A budding program in the SEC, the Gamecocks touted the credentials of the midfielder in media guides and press releases as the squad's cornerstone. The All-SEC second team selection in 1997 delivered, leading South Carolina to its first SEC tournament and NCAA appearance in the team's young history.

But despite her performance, head coach Sue Kelly didn't dress the junior in the team's first-round NCAA game against UNC-Charlotte, leaving her standout player looking for answers.

"No one would give us an answer as to why," said Pavlovits' mom, Jerry. "To this day, no one has explained why she (Kelly) did what she did when Mandy had never been a problem."

While Pavlovits cited the benching situation as one of several "humiliating and embarrassing" incidents incurred at South Carolina, she refused to elaborate on the details that solidified her decision to transfer.

"There's a part of me that will always wonder why someone would do the things they did, but I've gotten over it because soccer here is wonderful, the girls are wonderful," Pavlovits said. "They've made it easier for me, to not forget, but to just move on and say, 'it happened for a reason. I'm here for a reason.'"

The homegrown talent would have been here earlier if MU head coach, Bryan Blitz, had had his way three years ago. But by the time Missouri was committed to putting its inaugural club together, Pavlovits was committed to South Carolina.

"When I heard she was wanting to come back home, (my reaction was) one of excitement because of the type of person and the type of player she is and what she could do for our specific club," Blitz said.

But before the 21-year-old could raise the bar in the Missouri backfield, she'd have to become the new kid on a block of tried-and-true seniors, the foundation-layers for Missouri's young program.

Familiar faces, such as goalkeeper Jackie Adamec and defender Jennifer Kram, who played with Pavlovits on the Busch soccer club team, have helped to ease her transition.

Pavlovits looked especially to Adamec, who joined the Tiger squad in '97 after a season stint at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, for advice on coming to MU.

"She was asking about the team and school and the atmosphere here, and then I just kind of left her alone to make her decision," Adamec said.

"Coming here, I just hoped I would help in any way," Pavlovits said. "It could be from sitting on the bench. I don't expect anything from anybody. I want to earn their respect."

That she's done.

"She's such a high-level defender," Blitz said. "She brings such a hard presence, so I think she'll raise our defensive game to another level."

But for Pavlovits, her time at Mizzou is about more than being a hard presence. It's about falling in love again.

"I just want to enjoy the game like I did when I was little," she said. "I kind of lost that a bit. But I had it back here in the first game. It was fun. It was fun to play, it's like a freedom."

This story appeared in the September 10 edition of Inside Mizzou Sports.