When watching a sporting event, most fans look for the big goal or the big play. What many fail to see is the selfless play that sets up the big score.

Some may call this person a facilitator, one who sets the table for their teammates to score and have that spot light.

Senior Jocelyn Jeffers is that player. She can be described in one word: unselfish.

“The pressure is on me to score playing forward or attacking mid, but my only goal is to create opportunities for my teammates to score goals,” Jeffers said.

Jeffers has 18 goals and 10 assists during her career at Washington State.

From a young age, Jeffers has been playing the sport she loves. It may have started as a hobby, but has blossomed into a successful college career.

“I started playing soccer at 8 years old as a recreational sport, but I became really committed to it and found a natural talent,” Jeffers said.

She attended Sunrise Mountain High School in Peoria, Arizona. There, she scored 35 goals and added eight assists as a senior, according to wsucougars.com, leading the team to the quarterfinals of state.

“On the field, Jocelyn was a constant scoring threat as well as one of our primary distributors,” Shauna Johnson, who coached Jeffers at SMHS, said. “She ran our midfield and always played just as hard going back to defense as she did going forward to attempt to score. She always tried to help her teammates improve and often times would play sweeper to allow others a chance to score.”

Jeffers is not a selfish player, but do not fool yourself; she knows how to put the ball in the back of the net. The words “dangerous” and “scoring threat” kept coming up with Jeffers’ coaches.

“(Jeffers) is one of our most dangerous attacking players, she sets up our front runners, she sets the tempo and pace we want to play at,” WSU soccer Head Coach Steve Nugent said. “Jocelyn is a veteran. She has been to the NCAA tournament giving her tremendous experience. She has a competitive personality that her teammates and I appreciate. She wants to win, she loves being a Cougar.”

Johnson echoed Coach Nugent’s remarks about Jocelyn Jeffers’ play on the field.

“(Jeffers) has always been a scoring threat on the field due to her skill and understanding of the game,” Johnson said. “She has always had that natural instinct to go toward the goal, so while at Sunrise I did not try to change that, I only tried to help her perfect it.”

As a senior, Jeffers is expected to lead her younger teammates. She leads by example on and off the field.

“Hard work and playing the way that I can play for the team sets an example for everyone else,” she said. “I work my hardest and expect everyone else to do the same.”

Being a student athlete takes a toll on players; however, Jeffers knows how to utilize her time away from the pitch.

“Away from the field I like to sleep and chill in my house,” Jeffers said. “I just got a puppy, so that’s exciting.”

Jeffers is open to possibilities for the future. After graduation, she just wants to go “wherever life takes me.” 

Life will take Jocelyn Jeffers far, and now she has a puppy to accompany her. Oh yeah, and an insane knack for finding her open teammates in the attacking zone.