Unselfish approach benefits Spartan soccer star Ferrari

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one of a series of stories The Item will be doing on athletes to watch in the fall.LYNN – Unselfishness is a quality many coaches value in an athlete. St. Mary’s incoming senior Kirsten Ferrari of Lynn has demonstrated unselfishness quite a few times in her career on Tremont Street.One example of this came when she had to change positions. Ferrari, a captain of this year’s girls soccer team, normally plays midfield. Last season, however, she switched to sweeper as a result of injuries to two players who had played that position – Briana Marotta and Kristin Moccia. This year, Ferrari said, she thinks she’ll stay on defense, maybe at stopper.Ferrari also showed unselfishness when she plays. Scoring is often the first thing on a player’s mind ? but Ferrari revealed a degree of humility in assessing her own scoring ability.”I know I’m not the best out on the field,” she said. “I try to help set up stuff for other players.”Her coach, Jim Foley, clearly values her team spirit.”She’ll do whatever it takes to win,” he said. “If it means I ask her to play goalie, she’d do that. Whatever she needs to do, she’ll do. She’s not worried about glory or stats.”Last year, the Spartans were playing rival Bishop Fenwick on the Crusaders’ home field. St. Mary’s was shorthanded coming into the game, and star player Courtney Winters was a little achy. Then things seemed to get worse: Ferrari sprained her ankle. After getting ice on her knee and a thumbs-up from the trainer, Ferrari opted to return.”Some would have sat out,” Foley said. “She put her cleat back on and got right in.” And while the Spartans ultimately lost the game, he said, “It would have been a lot worse if Kirsten Ferrari was not in. She knew that.”Asked why Ferrari was such a team-oriented player, Foley attributed it to her growing up watching her two sisters, Amy and Katie, play. (Both are alumnae of St. Mary’s and Assumption College.) Kirsten, the youngest of the three, went to her sisters’ games and sometimes played soccer with them in their backyard.”They’re a wonderful family to coach,” said Foley, who has coached all three sisters – not only in girls soccer, but also in girls basketball, where he is an assistant.”It’s a testament to her parents, the way she was brought up,” Foley said.Looking ahead to her senior year, it sounds like Ferrari has a bit of unfinished business in both soccer and basketball. The Spartan girls soccer team is coming off a season in which it missed the playoffs by a point ? and the girls basketball team has been ousted by Pentucket in the postseason the last two years.While she acknowledged the frustration of facing Pentucket in basketball, she said, “We’ve gone far, we’ve had great seasons, and it’s been a lot of fun.”As for soccer?”I’m hoping we can make it to the playoffs and go far,” she said.It sounds like her team spirit has already taken Ferrari far in her high school athletic career ? and maybe the journey can go even farther in her senior year.