Meet the Freshmen: Klasey Medelberg

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State is coming off of its biggest win in program history against No. 10 Pepperdine and the play of freshman Klasey Medelberg was instrumental in the victory.

Medelberg, a St. Louis, Missouri native, has already found her step at the collegiate soccer level. After the season opener on the road at South Dakota State, the forward brought so much energy to the pitch that she quickly found her way into the starting lineup.

Cyclones.com caught up with the freshman forward.

Why did you choose Iowa State?
It was certainly a combination of things – it was the coaching staff, the teammates, the campus, and the wide variety of programs that would allow me to choose my major. After the first time I visited Iowa State I knew that this university would be the perfect fit for me.

What are you looking forward to the most this freshman year on the field or off the field?
Besides the bonding that will happen amongst the freshman and with the whole team, I look forward to working hard to help improve the team's goals. I also look forward academically to discovering what I want to be in the future. Because I am coming to college with an open major, I am given an open perspective to different fields of study. This will allow me to pick what major I want to go into that I enjoy most.

What's your style of play like?
I am technical in the way I play, but I like to use my speed the most when I play. I often find that using speed when I play at this level will help a player move forward on the field.

What's going to be your most difficult adjustment coming to Iowa State?
In terms of soccer, I have to make the adjustment of playing faster and at a quicker pace. The speed of the game is a lot faster now that I am at the college level. Off the field, I am going to have to make the adjustment of using my time wisely for my studies especially on weekends that we travel. I will have to look forward and work ahead to stay on top of things.

What's your favorite soccer memory?
My favorite soccer memory was when my high school team won districts for the first time in school history. We made it to sections for the first time and although we didn't win, we had done something the school had never done before.

Talk about the California trip?
The California trip was the trip that I was most looking for. We went to California hoping to get some points and that's what we got on Sunday against Pepperdine. The team worked really hard to achieve one of its main goals for the game: competing for 90 minutes. We were able to keep the ball defensively out of our defensive third for the majority of the game and attacked hard offensively. We were able to put the ball in the back of the net off a corner after Albert was able to get her head, sending it to the near post which allowed me to head it in. Until the very last second, the team was competing hard to maintain the 1-0 score.

Medelberg headed in her first goal as a Cyclone in the 50th minute against the No. 10 ranked Waves that held on to be the game-winner and the Cyclones' first win over a top-10 team all-time. Medelberg's game-winner was enough to earn her Big 12 Co-Freshman of the Week, which is her first award on the season.

Cyclones.com will be introducing the rest of the freshmen newcomers throughout the season.