Alassane Kane stood behind the ball, down 2-1 to the U18 national team and prepared to take a penalty kick. The national team’s goalie had been ejected. His own team, the Atlanta Fire, had been trailing the entire game. Kane lined up the shot, fired, and scored, tying the game at 2 and giving his team the momentum to eventually win the game, 3-2.
Kane, a sophomore at AU, was born in Hartwell, Ga., but soon moved to Athens, Ga., where he would grow up to become a dominant force on any soccer team he played on.
Because his mother worked at the local YMCA, Kane started playing soccer but soon left the sport to go try others.
“Didn’t like it,” Kane said. “I tried everything else and went back to it.”
At 8 years old, Kane began playing on the Athens Sidekicks, an 11-12-year-old team. Kane continued to “play up” until his freshman year in high school, when he finally started playing against kids his own age.
Playing for Stratford Academy in high school, Kane started most games, even as a freshman. At the end of his freshman year, Kane’s team made it to the state championship. While his team eventually lost, his two goals in that game will forever remain engrained in his memory.
“Freshman year we lost in the state championships, sophomore year we got upset, junior year we lost in the [semi-finals] to the champion, and senior year we lost in the state championship,” said Kane. “It was heart-breaking.”
At the time, Kane was faster than anyone else on the team, so team strategies consisted of playing the ball into space and letting Kane run onto it. When he played against players who were as fast as him, Kane still had the ball control and foot skills to beat the defender.
“I feel like that’s a different part of my game that most people don’t know that I have,” said Kane.
Selected to First Team All-Middle Georgia all four years, and Male Athlete of the Year in 2008, Kane’s talent was not unnoticed.
After graduating from Stratford Academy, Kane attended Berkshire School for a year before attending the University of Vermont for his freshman year of college.
“People don’t know this about Vermont, but it’s actually a really nice place. At the time, they had a great soccer team, great facilities and everything — it was unfortunate that we had that one bad year.”
Kane soon decided that he needed to transfer and set about contacting as many schools as he could.
“I need a change,” said Kane. “I felt like I got worse when I was playing there. I wasn’t the same player that I was before.”
AU e-mailed Kane back, interested in his playing abilities. The School of Public Affairs’ political science program helped seal the deal, as Kane is an aspiring lawyer.
Kane’s transition to D.C. has been “pretty easy.” Taking the time over the summer to make sure he was in shape for this season, Kane feels much more prepared than he was at Vermont.
AU Head Coach Todd West’s coaching style is often described as fair and direct, but demands respect, which Kane is more than willing to give.
With six goals scored so far this season, Kane has been a breakout on the team and is the Eagles’ leading scorer thus far.
The Eagles are now entering the second-half of the season, which is filled with Patriot League opponents. Kane is aspiring to score at least a goal a game, looking to launch his team into the Patriot League Championship.
On Friday, Kane scored the game-winning goal for AU against Lafayette College. His six goals currently lead the Patriot League. In a close second is Navy’s Dave Arnold with five goals in the league.
Kane is extremely confident heading into the upcoming schedule.
“I’ve seen most of the teams before and when we play at our best, there’s no team in our conference that can compete with us,” said Kane. “We just have to stay focused and not get complacent every time we get a win. That’s what it comes down to — we’ve got to stay focused.
Kane won’t even think about his future career at AU, he is just focused on the season at hand. As for playing after college?
“Of course [I would play] if I’m able to,” he said. “What college soccer player wouldn’t?”
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