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“She’s the kind of player who can finish from anywhere in the attacking half of the field,” said Tony Englund, Hamline’s head coach. “She’s so sharp that she doesn’t need a lot of space to get the shot off. She can pull the trigger from almost anywhere.”

She’s also a versatile player. Donner has proven that she is able to score from two different positions in as many years at Hamline. On a young team like this one (the team has only two seniors), it is important to show individual experience to help elevate the level of the entire team.

Experience is one thing that Donner has got in spades. She has been playing soccer since the first grade. Donner went to a small elementary school where most students participated one sport or another, so to her, soccer seemed like the thing to do. She attended high school in Stillwater, where she continued to play. But when the time came to go to college, Donner chose the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a Division-I school. She didn’t try out for the soccer team.

“I played after my freshman year of college in the summer, and I missed it a lot,” said Donner.

Donner’s club team was coached by Hamline assistant soccer coach, Nathan Klonecki. Klonecki, she said, was instrumental in convincing her to play soccer for Hamline.

She began her career as a Piper playing at the outside midfield position, the same spot she had played throughout her high school career. This year she was moved up to forward, a position she had little experience with.

Although Donner has made the transition from the midfield to a striking position look easy, her success is due to her hard work. As a midfielder, she was expected to sink back and help on defense; as a forward, she is a pure scorer. But the difference between playing the two positions is more fundamental than just putting goals in the back of the net. Donner had to change the way she looks at the field.

“As a midfielder I could use the line as a boundary, whereas when you’re a striker you have to play in the center of the field. You have to know where more people are and be able to work with them,” said Donner. “I’ve been working a lot at seeing the field by picking my eyes up off the ball.”

Donner’s field presence wasn’t an issue in her first season game. She scored two of her five goals on rebounds, one on an assist from fellow rookie striker Lindsey Anderson, and took in two more with no help at all.

“I like taking the ball inside and just passing it in. It’s much more accurate than shooting from far away,” said Donner.

Though it takes more skill than taking long shots, Donner has shown that she has the technical ability required to score goals from close range. She has also shown that she knows how to take advantage of a goalkeeper who shows weakness.

“Our coach watched the keeper during warm-ups. He told us strikers to get far inside the 18 yard box,” Donner said.

It’s one thing to know a keeper’s weak points, but it’s another entirely to have the clear head and skill to exploit them at a moment’s notice. Donner proved that she could do it five times in a single game. Even before she locked up the game for Hamline, she was taking tough chances and making them look easy.

If Donner can continue to improve as the season goes on, she’ll be set to have another record-breaking year. It’s hard to imagine after a five goal game, but she is technically still a new striker. If she can continue to grow into the position, and continue to improve her vision on the field, Donner could help her team finish higher than ever before.