“You think you have motivation before, and then something devastating like that happens... you’ve got to work harder - for her, for what she represented, for everyone that was impacted.” - Nusbaum on Krull For Nusbaum, it means you’ve got to work harder. It means there are no excuses. People are fighting these battles you don’t even know about. There’s no room to complain about a fitness test. You’ve got an injury? That sucks. You’ve got to go into AT? That’s fine. Do what you’ve got to do. You’ve got to limp around the field? Do what you’ve got to do. Keep going. “You think you have motivation before, and then something devastating like that happens and it almost turns it on its head, because you’ve got to work harderfor her, for what she represented, for everyone that was impacted,” she said. In her final season for Springfield, Nusbaum was determined to work harder. She had one focus. Playing for those who can’t. She played for Krull. The hardest worker she had ever met. ***
Even Sharpe didn’t anticipate the degree to which the loss of Krull would impact Nusbaum’s play. Going into the season, Sharpe had told the assistants she wanted Nusbaum to be more offensive. However, Nusbaum hadn’t felt entirely effective in the upper center midfield position, so Sharpe moved her back to the right side. “I just wanted her to score,” said Sharpe. “In my mind, I’m thinking she should be higher to score, never realizing that [idea of] ‘well if I can’t score, I’m going to make sure that everybody else does.’” Nusbaum earned the same number of assists in a single season as she had in her first three seasons combined. At 23 assists, most would think she’s a center midfielder. That’s where there are the most options. But she wasn’t. She was on the side of the field. “To get that many from that position has to be unheard of,” Sharpe stated. “She just put
a whole new twist on what it means to be a midfielder.” Nusbaum couldn’t have done it alone. “I’ll bring the ball up, but people have to put it in, or else my assists mean nothing,” she explained. “Throughout my four years, I had to have people put it in the net, and I’ve had teammates that can do that, so I’ve been fortunate in that way.” For Sharpe, there was one key aspect of Nusbaum’s play that made her so effective. “She’s just so different. The intensity makes all the difference,” explained Sharpe. “She can dribble well, she can pass well, she can shoot, but then she does it with such intensity that it’s harder and it’s faster than her opponents.” Nusbaum gained a painful drive when she lost Katonka. And she’s been honing it for years. That’s the difference. That’s her edge. 33