Gene Renfro
Reporter
Senior Andrea Breece is nursing major and the starting goalkeeper for the Milligan Lady Buffs. She’s a former All-Appalachian Athletic Conference shortstop with the softball team and a newlywed. How does she do it all?
Associate nursing professor Mary Fabick says Breece has made nursing and sports priorities in her life, and she has put both in a good balance.
“She’s done well (in class),” Fabick said, “She does not ask for help even if she misses class because of athletics.”
Andrea played four years of softball for Milligan and walked onto the soccer field this year as goalie for head coach Dave Dixon.
Dixon said she has been a huge help to the Lady Buffs soccer team.
“She’s been a leader, a quiet leader,” Dixon said. “(Because this is her first year on the soccer team), she’s in a tough spot. It is like she is starting over.”
Breece joined the team as the backup goalkeeper, but because the starting goalie tore her ACL a week before the season started, Breece ended up as the only goalkeeper available for Coach Dixon.
Andrea’s stats for the season speak show her ability. In the AAC, she leads with six shutouts during the season. In 1080 minutes of play, she had 70 saves and allowed only 24 goals.
Before she played soccer at Milligan, she was a four year starting shortstop on the softball team for coach Wes Holly. She had a career batting average of .440, earning All-AAC four times. She was voted onto the NAIA All-Region XII team twice and team MVP.
“I really miss Andrea’s leadership this year, as she was just a great team leader,” Holly said. “I would have to say she has been one of the smartest players I have coached at the college level.”
Holly sees Breece’s ability to manage her time well.
“I think she did a good job as for budgeting her time between academics and athletics,” Holly said. “Juggling her time to practice and play in spring was a very demanding task for her.”
Along with her education and athletics at Milligan, she met her husband, Danny Breece. He knows, better than most, her crazy schedule.
“We got married on July 14. She planned the wedding, played softball with a broken ankle and had class,” Danny said. “After the wedding, she had to train for soccer along with preparing for (nursing) clinicals.”
Breece doesn’t claim the last four and a half years have been easy, but she credits her success to a supportive husband and family.