"I was the goalie and he used to kick [the ball] at me. After a while, I started kicking back," she said. As a child, Gonyea mostly played soccer with the boys rather than the girls because she preferred the higher level of competition.

While attending high school, Gonyea was a four-year starter for her soccer team.

During her senior year, Gonyea received the co-MVP award for section II—she has also been MVP of her school and of the Foothills Council.

There are several reasons Gonyea made the decision to attend RPI. She initially chose RPI because she received the Rensselaer Medal from her school. Attending the Institute is also a family tradition: Gonyea’s father, brother, grandfather, and uncles all attended RPI.

"I don’t know if that is the reason I came here (though); I’m a math and science person and I believed RPI would offer me a challenge," she said.

Gonyea’s biggest reason for choosing RPI over other schools was the close proximity to her home, so that she could be close to her family—she has two brothers and a sister that all still live in the area.

Aside from soccer, Gonyea is a member of Rusty Pipes; she joined the group as a freshman, and they are currently getting ready for a concert. As a member of the group, she practices six hours a week. Gonyea also works part-time for GE during the off-season and full-time during the summer. Her remaining free time is spent skiing, watching movies, playing with her dog, and with her boyfriend.

Although her engineering coursework is tough, Gonyea hasn’t had problems balancing it against her soccer schedule. She said that her coach, Aldo Nardiello, has always stressed that schoolwork comes ahead of soccer. "You can tell the coach that you have a meeting and he won’t have any problem with it—he is really understanding about doing schoolwork," she said.

The biggest problem she faced after entering RPI was learning how to study. As a student in high school, she didn’t need to study, and this became a problem at RPI since her classes were harder. Gonyea quickly learned how to study and this has helped her maintain an outstanding GPA.

The soccer team has been superb so far this season; they currently hold an 11-1 record, with their lone loss coming Saturday against Union. "It would have been great to beat a nationally ranked team," said Gonyea of the loss.

The Red Hawks will get another chance at a top-ranked team when they take on William Smith Thursday night. This is their last scheduled home game, after which the team will have a chance to participate in the ECAC playoffs and the state tournament.

The soccer team gets along well as team. Most of the girls are good friends who live in the same apartments. "We all hang out together, we all go out after games as a team," she said.

Gonyea has been a starter for all three of her years at RPI. After winning a spot her freshman year, she has led the team in scoring for each of the past two season, and she currently is again the squad’s top scorer with nine goals.