Charlotte 49ers Midfielder Steps Out of Her Older Sisterâs Shadow
By ROBBY FRIEDMAN
Charlotte, N.C. â
Lindsey Ozimek finished her college career at Charlotte as the schoolâs all-time leader in assists. Charlotte 49ers head coach Jon Lipsitz describes Ozimek as by far the best player in the programâs history. Despite playing without her older sister for the first time in her collegiate career, Lipsitz expects 2008 to be a breakout season for junior midfielder Hailey Beam.
âYouâre always little sister, while big sister is there,â Lipsitz said. âShe wants to be the one, the person who wants to take the last shot in basketball or the final putt on the 18th green.â
Ozimek also expects a big season from Beam.
âI think sheâll go above and beyond how she has ever played,â Ozimek said. âWhen Iâm not on the field, she feels the need to fill that role.â
Ozimek married former Major League Soccer player Erik Ozimek in December 2005. Despite no longer sharing the same last name, Beam and Ozimek share a sisterly bond which is evident both on and off the field. Both sisters recall playing soccer against each other in the backyard growing up in South Carolina.
âWeâre both so competitive,â Ozimek said. âIâd use my size as an advantage.â
âIf Lindsey was winning, Iâd quit,â Beam said.
âShe used to think that if she quit, then she didnât lose,â Ozimek said. âI used to run in the house and say, âMom, Hailey quit again.ââ
âIf I ever won, Iâd really rub it in,â Beam said.
âShe really pushed me to get better,â Ozimek said. âI always wanted to beat my younger sister.â
Ozimek finished high school early in order to play the spring 2004 season at Clemson where her older sister, Meagan Leopard, was the team manager. After some issues with the coaching staff at Clemson, Ozimek decided to leave Clemson for Charlotte. Ozimek started 17 of 19 games in her freshman season in fall 2004, under former Charlotte 49ers Womenâs Soccer Coach Neil Roberts. After Roberts resigned, Lipsitz was hired. The final three years of Ozimekâs career were her happiest as she had the coach she always wanted.
âI hadnât spoken to my father in four years,â Ozimek said. âJon helped fill that role. I still talk to him at least once a week.â
Beam finished high school a full year early in order to play two seasons with her sister. Due to this, unlike most highly touted prep athletes, Beam wasnât heavily recruited.
âI never made a visit anywhere,â Beam said. âI graduated a year early. If I wanted to play two seasons with Lindsey, I had to take all of my classes junior year.â
âIt meant the world for me,â Ozimek said. âSheâs my baby sister.â
According to Lipsitz the difference between the two players is while Ozimek is the more athletic of the two, Beam loves to play hard and physical.
âLindsey was the playmaker,â Beam said. âIâm going to have to change my game, because we donât have that one playmaker anymore.â
âSheâs an enforcer,â Ozimek said. âI think she got three yellow cards during her freshman season for sticking up for me.â
In her first collegiate game, while only 17 years old, Beam scored two goals against Francis Marion University in a 2-1 victory. Despite her early success, she didnât let it get to her head.
âI didnât think it was easy,â Beam said. âThat was a tough game.â
âAs captain of the team, I wasnât harder on Hailey,â Ozimek said. âI just expected more from her than I did from other players.â
Now that Ozimek has graduated, Beam has been elected by the rest of the team as one of three tri-captains along with senior forward Nikki Dumencich and junior goalkeeper Lauren Brown.
Ozimek started her college career at Clemson and ended it playing against Clemson in the 2007 NCAA Tournament. After the first half of play, Charlotte led 2-0. Beam scored the first goal of the game off of a corner kick from Ozimek. A few minutes later Ozimek found the back of the net off of a throw-in.
During the spring, Ozimek was playing for the USA U23 National Team, finding herself a first team regular. She trained with the team in Portland and had been travelling to Europe with her national squad, before her season was abruptly ended by a knee injury. Both Ozimek and Beam feel lucky to have ended up playing their college career at Charlotte under Coach Lipsitz. These days Beam is trained by Ozimekâs husband, who owns and runs the Boot Room Soccer School. Meanwhile, Ozimek continues to rehab a torn ACL, MCL and meniscus, which will keep her out of national team duty for seven to nine months.