Ally Mancino

Ally Mancino was such a big part of my time with UCONN. I forgot that I could actually write about her now since she transferred.

Ally's passion for soccer and intensity for the game were what made her one of my favorite athletes. I even interviewed her for a class project in sports psychology for being in the zone, because to me she was always in the zone. I really really missed Ally after she left.

One of the reasons I liked working with James and the goalkeepers at practice was because of Ally. Ally made everything in practice game like. Everything was do or die for her. I loved it and liked being with the goalkeepers to watch and listen to her scream and be intense. She was intense in all sports too. I saw her play pick up basketball and she got so mad after she missed a jumper. She took shots after the game so she could improve.

Ally was loud and always rooting for the team. I picked up on this right away as a manager. She was the second player I ever interviewed for our facebook page because of this. She was so serious during our interview and actually ran back with a ball bag after practice so that she wouldn't be late.

Ally would always say "Come on, Let's Go!!!" It was so infectious that I had it stuck in my head during swim class. I am a horrible swimmer, but the only time I beat someone in my class is when I visualized Ally screaming "Come On, Let's Go!!" to me while I did the backstroke.

I heard a story about Ally screaming at the players during warm-ups to ask if anyone else wanted a piece of her when they were taking shots on goal.

Ally had some moves that would be easy for a character on SNL to impersonate. I remember her little dancing that she would do before games during warm ups. I MEAN LITTLE. You had to be on the field to notice it. She might kill me for writing that. She would also bend down and hold her pose after catching a rolling ball in warm ups. After holding it for a second and a half she would slowly roll it back. Ally had swag.

Ally almost did kill me during the St. John's game. Ally HATED being on camera and I knew this. From time to time I felt like the Crocodile hunter when I had the video camera with me around her, or pointed anywhere near. I knew I had to be careful around her.

One time during the St. John's game I filmed her and she snapped big time. She yelled at me to stop filming and I sure as heck listened. I got concerned the coaches would hear this and put an end to all sideline filming. Thankfully they didn't. I'm not sure if I intentionally filmed her that time she snapped or not, but the lord knows I got as much footage of Ally as I could when she wasn't looking. I never did so because I was trying to be mean, I did so because I thought she was an important part of the team and I wanted clips of her intensity.

I thought she was important so I also decided to put her on a marketing flier. A small marketing flier. I asked Dulski about doing this via text message because I wanted her opinion. I also asked Leigh-Ann. Leigh-Ann gave the answer that made the most sense. "No way, that's crazy, she will kill you." Dulski than said that she was with Ally at study hall and would ask her. Dulski said "She turned red, but was ok with it. DO IT!"

I showed Ally at practice the next day and let's just say that I should have listened to Leigh-Ann. She was half mad about it and probably said she wanted to kill me. In the end Ally survived.

I have to say that by the end of the year I actually asked permission from her to film. She was actually really good about it when I asked. I also asked Mel to not film Ally when she had the camera on the road because I didn't want to upset Ally.

Ally would always get into the zone before games and would go off by herself to mentally prepare for games. She would get into her happy place I guess. I always respected Ally during this part of the day and never ever bothered her. I was impressed that games meant so much to her that she would prepare so much for them. I also remember being scared s^&less before our Notre Dame game in 2010 when I had to re-do our food order right before a game. I had to ask Ally during this time what kind of sandwich she wanted and I was so nervous and uncomfortable to ask. She was good about it and thanked me for asking.

On the field Ally was loud, energetic and vocal and as an outsider (someone not on the team) I always felt that she was a big part of warm-ups. It didn't feel right to me if she wasn't yelling "come on UCONN," "Let's GO Girls!"

The biggest play I remember Ally making came in the NCAA TOURNAMENT against Boston University. Ally played one phenomenal game and made an amazing save in the second half that allowed us to win the game. She came out off her line against a BU player and jumped up and knocked the ball away. It was a great scoring opportunity for BU, but Ally denied them. The two things I remember most about the NCAA Tournament in 2009 was Taylor's goal and Ally's save.

I asked Ally about this save for our highlight video because I thought it was such an important moment. When I told Ally it was in the video before we ate at our banquet she threatened to stab me with a fork. THANK GOD THEY WERE PLASTIC. After the video was over Ally came over and said I did a good job on the video and that meant a lot to me.

Ally is also one of the reasons the video came out so good. She came into the office one day and said that "You better make a good highlight video!" I was inspired. I had so much respect for her and her intensity that I made sure I would not let her down. Ally deserves some credit for the videos I make coming out good.

One thing I missed most about Ally was the hard time we would give one another at practice. I brought up the time I scored on her a few times to piss her off. She'd tell me I suck, or that I was lucky. I loved these conversations. We could give each other a hard time yet never take it personally. It's just something we did to pass time and mess with each other. We would also give each other a hard time about the NFL. She was a Giants fan and I am a Cowboys fan. We gave each other crap when one team wasn't doing well against the other.

I wish Ally well, and typing this makes me realize how much I miss her. The last I heard she said she was doing well and enjoying her new school and I am happy to hear that.