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| Eric Drummond |
At a certain age, parents often provide their
children with an outlet for their energy
and creativity. Who knew that something
you started at the age of five would be
something you still loved nearly 16 years
later? For Ashley Conti, this was the case.
“When I was little, I was really hyper and my
parents wouldn’t let me do karate because
they were afraid I was going to hurt my
sisters, so they put me in a contact sport:
Soccer.” Now a fourth year Photojournalism
major, Conti is still dominating the field
as goalkeeper for RIT Women’s Soccer.
Soccer is indeed a contact sport. From
broken fingers to torn ligaments, Conti has
pulled through game after game with injury
after injury. “If you love the sport, you learn
how to channel [the pain]...At this level you
should be able to suck it up,” she explained.
One of Conti’s more serious injuries was a
concussion in her sophomore year. “It was our
Rachel Miller tournament that we hold every
year,” said Conti as she described the scene.
“It was the first game of the tournament and it
was probably about 10 minutes into the game.
There was a cross that came in and I dove out
for it. She headed straight into my head and
we both got knocked out.” Still, no matter how
bad the damage, Conti always bounces back.
Soccer is only one of Conti’s interests. She
picked up photography in high school because
she needed something other than soccer
to keep her busy. “I picked up my dad’s old
camera and [started] shooting things; I found
out that I loved shooting sports and ran with
it,” Conti explained. Eventually, she realized
that this was the career she wanted to pursue.
Initially, Conti considered attending the
Art Institute of Pittsburgh. When she went
to check it out, she realized she never wanted
to go to that school, but she did meet a few
people who informed her about RIT.
“I researched it and found out that RIT was
one of the top schools for photojournalism
and photography in general, so I applied.
It was the only college I applied for, and
luckily, I got in,” Conti recounted.
Upon getting accepted to RIT, the idea of
playing soccer for the Tigers never crossed
Conti’s mind. “I figured that after high
school, I would be done with soccer. I never
thought I was good enough to compete
at this level and sometimes I still don’t
think I’m good enough,” she explained.
Fortunately, with some prodding from
her dad, Conti contacted Head Coach Tom
Natalie and was picked to come pre-season.
“The rest just kind of fell into place.”
2008 STATS
Shots Faced: 139
Save Percentage: 0.743
Save Total: 55
Record: 4-5-1
