College athletes are told all the time that one day the ball will go flat. One day you will walk off of the field, court or whatever playing surface, and it will be your last time to do so as a college athlete. For 5th-year senior defender and captain, Leah Bermudez, there’s one thing she intends to accomplish before that time comes.
“I want a PSAC ring.”
Having grown up in what she calls a “soccer family,” the sport has always been a part of her life. She credits her dad for introducing her to the sport when she was six years old, and from that point throughout high school, the Canadian-born defender focused in on an extremely specific goal. “I knew at a young age that I wanted to come play in the U.S. As a Canadian, and I feel I can speak for most Canadians, the goal when it comes to soccer is to go to the U.S. for school.”
Fulfilling that goal hasn’t always been easy for Bermudez or her family, and she’s witnessed her parents make many sacrifices for her to have the opportunity to play college soccer here in the U.S.
“I spent so many countless hours on the road traveling. My parents have been great supporters taking me across the border to different states. There were long hours on the road and them coming home from work and then driving me to practice. There was just a lot of sacrifice that we had to do as a family to get me where I am today.”
In the years since Bermudez first arrived at Gannon in 2019, she says that Gannon has become a “home away from home,” and in that time, she certainly has made her mark on the Golden Knights Women’s Soccer program. In four years, Bermudez has appeared in 50 games while starting 40 of them. The defender has scored seven goals and four game-winners in her career, including three last season.
Just last season alone, Bermudez was named All-PSAC West First Team, D2CCA All-Atlantic Region Second Team, United Soccer Coaches All-Atlantic Region First Team, and College Sports Communicators Academic All-District. On top of those accolades, Bermudez is also a three-time PSAC Scholar-Athlete and a two-time D2 ADA Academic Achievement Award Winner.
Aside from all these awards, Bermudez will be heading into her fourth season as a captain of the Gannon Women’s Soccer team, a role that she takes very seriously,
“That role is very special because not only are you doing it on the field, but you’re doing it off the field too. As soon as I was made captain, I wanted to make sure that this program was really geared around family. I think we’ve accomplished so much with that family mentality and I’m really thankful that the girls have looked up to me to uphold that standard and keep us working together as a family.”
Last season, she and the rest of the Gannon Women’s Soccer team came up 90 minutes short of their PSAC Championship goal, losing to West Chester 3-0 in the PSAC Championship game at McConnell Family Stadium.
While losing that game kept the Golden Knights from capturing a PSAC title, Bermudez says that playing in and hosting the tournament final, along with the team’s subsequent NCAA tournament berth, were still huge accomplishments for the team.
“We made history for the program by being runners-up of the PSAC. We made history by making it to the second round of the national tournament. And we made history by hosting both of those things.”
Now, heading into her final season with the Golden Knights, the Psychology graduate says that the team is more focused than ever on building on last year’s success,
“None of us are satisfied. We’re hungry for the full PSAC title. We’re hungry for being number one in the region again and making it further in the national tournament. We’re just hungry for more.”
