Bio

Billy Ronson had logged only one season as Goucher’s head women’s soccer coach at the time, yet he had high expectations for the recruits he brought into the program in 1994. He felt newcomers could fill as many as seven spots in the starting line-up and those who weren’t starting would be the team’s key reserves.

But Ronson didn’t hesitate to single out one particular freshman, a midfielder from Towson High School. Before the season even started, he predicted not only that Sara Weaver would start, but also that she would prove to be “the best player on the team.”

Even if you don’t count the eight goals she tallied in a 37-0 victory over Hood – and you can’t, because the opponent was a club program – Weaver was still the team’s leading scorer that season. She ended up with 12 goals and six assists for a total of 30 points as the Gophers finished above .500 for the first time at 12-3-2 overall.

In fact, Weaver led the women’s soccer team in goals and points in all four of her seasons at Goucher. In 1995, she supplied the Gophers with 13 goals and four assists (30 points), in 1996, it was nine goals and three assists (21 points), and finally 20 goals and eight assists (48 points) as a senior in 1997.

In all four seasons, she was a first-team selection on the All-Capital Athletic Conference Team. And in 1997, she was the CAC Women’s Soccer Player of the Year.

It has been more than 16 years since Weaver scored the final goal of her career. By the way, it was part of a two-goal, two-assist performance against Catholic in the quarterfinals of the 1997 CAC postseason tournament and it provided the Gophers with a 4-0 lead over the Cardinals. It’s also been seven years since Goucher left the CAC to become a member of the Landmark Conference.

But some of the records Weaver established as a player are still intact.

It wasn’t until 2006 that Katie Miller broke her single-game record of four goals or 2008 that Sisley Pumilia surpassed her 20-goal effort in 1997 by scoring 23 times. But neither Miller nor Pumilia – nor any other Goucher player – has come close to taking over as the program’s all-time leader in goals (54) or points (129). Pumilia, who graduated in 2010, ranks second in both categories and trails Weaver by 15 goals and 36 points.

Weaver was the first player to score four goals in a CAC contest, and although five players have since tied that mark, none have exceeded it.

It took 13 years for another player to supplant Weaver as the CAC’s all-time leader in goals and points. Currently, she ranks third in CAC history with her 54 goals and is tied for third in points.

Weaver also played on Goucher’s women’s basketball team for one season. She started nine games and appeared in 11 others, averaging 10.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per contest in 1994-95.