Sept. 6, 2007

By Ann Green Greenville News

Greenville, S.C. -- Furman University senior Mickey Palanza will go from being a soccer defender in the back line to being a defender of her country when she enters the U.S. Army in a few months.

Palanza, who has spent four years in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps at Furman, will be commissioned a second lieutenant.

The All-Southern Conference athlete has opted for four years of active duty in the military instead of eight years in the reserves to pay back her ROTC obligation.

She would be the second member of her immediate family to join up. Her brother, who graduated from Virginia Military Institute, took his commission and will be serving with the 82nd Airborne Division later this fall, she said.

"We're both very athletic and needed scholarship money," she said. "We both like structure and college sports and being part of a team. He played soccer as well."

Palanza, 20, is from Wilmington, N.C., and came to Furman on a partial soccer scholarship. ROTC helped with the rest so she could attend the school, she said.

She wasn't the type of person to shoot guns or spend lots of time in the woods before she got to Furman, she said. It took some adjustments, and she had to strike a balance so she could succeed at both soccer and ROTC since each required a specific amount of time and dedication.

"My freshman year, I was overwhelmed in the winter," she said. "Then last winter and spring, I did pretty much nothing with the soccer team to focus on ROTC. Both sides have allowed me to do what I need to do. That's what Furman does for you."

What she was learning in soccer blended nicely with ROTC, she found. "I enjoy being part of something greater than myself," Palanza said.

"In soccer, you're part of a team going for one goal. If you're not playing and if you don't get self-recognition, it's OK. It's all about the team. And you learn problem-solving. In ROTC, you learn interpersonal skills, working with a team or working as an individual, getting feedback from someone above you. It all fits in."

Palanza has started in 64 of 66 games since she was a freshman. So far this season, Furman has had shutouts in all three games, counting one exhibition and wins against Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss at the LSU Classic last week. The Furman women have their home opener tonight at 7 against USC Upstate.

Palanza's senior class has never won the SoCon regular season, finishing second twice and third last year. They won the SoCon tournament and went to the NCAA tournament in 2004 when Palanza was a freshman.

So in addition to those second lieutenant's bars on her shoulders, Palanza would like to leave Furman with a piece of SoCon jewelry on her finger for capturing the regular season title.

"I'd like to get a ring," Palanza said.