Behind the Scenes with Women's Soccer

March 30, 2013 | Women's Soccer

March 29, 2013

Throughout the spring semester, GoCards.com will provide weekly updates on the Louisville women's soccer program in the "Behind the Scenes" blog. For the month of March, Megan Berberich gives a glimpse into the world of the Cardinals.

Name That Cardinal...by Megan Berberich

As a team, like many teams, we have a tendency to give each other special names. Almost all of the members on the team have one or more nicknames. These usually reflect some part of the name, and may or may not hint at some aspect of the personality of the lucky recipient of the title. Several of our more creative members on the team, including and especially Chloe Kiefer, have created a personal nickname for nearly all of the other players. Today, I will give you a little inside scoop on some of the nicknames/pet names we call each other and a little background on a couple.

Let's start with the freshmen.

Nicole Gerber's titles include some form of her last name. We rarely, if ever, call her Nicole. To us, she is Gerber, Gerbs, Gribbles or Gerber Baby.

Lexie Niedoba's nickname is just a play off of her first name, giving us Dexie, a fun little rhyme.

Grace Ayodele is also known as Grizzy Grace or G-Money.

Irene Young goes by Reeny, Reen, and Reenis, all derived from her first name.

Lauren Nash goes by Nash, Nasher, or Nashy-Nash.

Now, on to the sophomores.

Erin Yenney has been graced with the names Yensef, YenYen, and Yennay.

Kim Sharo goes by Kimbo, Lil Kim, Kimmie.

Sydney Blomquist has some of the more creative nicknames, including Syd the Kid, Squid, and Squidney. There is not a particular reason that the animal of choice was a squid; it just happened to go with her name.

Devyn Ciotti also has some interesting derivatives. She is called anything from just simply Dev, to Big D, to Devylyn, to Dirty Dev, to D.

Zakiya McIntosh is generally called Zee by most of us, and a select few call her Zebby (short for Zebariah - her old woman name).

Last but not least, the upperclassmen.

Chelsea Hunter is known as Mama to us; she takes care of us in many ways.

Angelika Uremovich normally goes by Ange, and Chloe has given her the name Phalangie.

Rachel Melhado is called Rach, Rachiee Baby, or Rack City (after one of her favorite songs).

Katie Walz is generally just known as Walz or Walzy, but she has also earned herself the nickname Walzy-Palsy for being so clumsy. The definition of palsy is a paralysis. We have hypothesized that the reason she will fall for apparently no reason is that her body is temporarily paralyzed. We feel the nickname suits her well.

Nicole Mitchell has earned the titles Nasty Nicky, Tricky Nicky, Tricks, Big Red, Mitch, and Mitchy. The first three are in reference to her soccer skills...she can do some pretty nasty (in the good way of course) things with all her tricks. Big Red is an obvious reference to her hair color.

Christine Exeter is simply known as X usually; a very suiting name for her - simple yet powerful.

Julie Casselman is called Julz, Julie Bean, Ju-Ju, and Ju Ju Bean. Kim Sharo attempted to get Dragon to catch on, but it turned out to be unsuccessful.

Charlyn Corral is normally called Char, but also goes by Cha Cha.

Chloe Kiefer is called Chlo. Chloweezy, C.C., Master (she is a master at her trade - goalie), and Chief Kief.

As for myself, I am given any number of variations of Berbs, including Berby, Berbature, and Berbalicious (by a select few). Sydney also finds it quite funny to call me Meg Dawg.

There are a couple on the team who do not yet have nicknames, but I'm sure after a couple more years they will have earned themselves some sort of name that will be suitable.

I hope that you enjoyed a little insight into one of the lesser-known aspects of our team. March is coming to a close, which means that this is my last blog and I will be passing on the torch. Thank you to all who have tuned in, and please continue to check in for more updates throughout the spring. Thank you and GO CARDS!