ATHENS, W.Va. – Mira Kontio of the Concord University women's soccer team is the latest student-athlete to be highlighted on the Concord Athletics Senior Spotlight.
Kontio speaks with Concord University Sports Information Director
Wes McKinney on her transition from her native Finland to Concord, helping build the women's soccer team into one of the best programs in the Mountain East Conference and her All-American season in 2019.
Some excerpts of the interview can be found below while the complete interview is here:
https://cutt.ly/9fY6XHS
ON TRANSITIONING FROM HER FRESHMAN TO SOPHOMORES SEASONS
When I came here, I wasn't really fit. After the first season we went to the offseason, and we were doing a lot of fitness which gave me a lot of strength and I gained more confidence. I think the confidence was the biggest part why I scored more goals. I think personally I was able to speak more because I learned English. I think that's why I gained confidence. I was able to tell my teammates to play on the field or they were able to tell me what to score more goals.
ON WINNING THE MEC CHAMPIONSHIP IN 2019
(The MEC Semifinals against Notre Dame) was a big deal for us, but even bigger was the championship against Fairmont State. The Wesleyan game was a big deal for us as well. In 2018, we lost the conference championship to Wesleyan. That gave us a lot of motivation because we wanted to win so badly.
