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2003
Penalty Box Prowler Keen To Carry On Scoring
by Jeremy Ruane
 photo courtesy NZ Soccer
Among the plethora of new caps included in the SWANZ squad for the forthcoming Oceania Women’s World Cup qualifying series in Canberra is a real penalty box prowler - a speedy front-runner who loves scoring goals.
Michele Keinzley’s selection may have come as a surprise to some, injury depriving her of the chance to play in the inaugural National Women’s Soccer League competition last October and November. But such is her prowess in and around the eighteen yard box that she had caught the eye of the national selectors long beforehand, and her ascension to the senior squad has been more a matter of when, not if.
For the blonde striker already boasts a lengthy pedigree in the white shirt of her country, going back to 1997, when, after her initial selection in an internal tournament against Central and Southern Region Under-17 selections, she scored her first goal at international level for her country, as the New Zealand Under-17s defeated the Australian Secondary Schoolgirls 2-1 in the winner-take-all third test to clinch the Deane Low Shield.
The following year, as well as playing - and scoring again, of course - in another internal Under-17 tournament, she headed to Dallas with the New Zealand Under-19 squad, who competed in the 1998 Dallas Cup tournament.
A year later, she was back in Under-17 action, as New Zealand sent a team across to participate in the Australian Youth State Championships in Perth that year, Michele scoring twice in the final game of the
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competition, against Australian Capital Territory.
And in 2001, selection in a New Zealand Regional Selection squad - the SWANZ in all things but name - for a quadrangular international tournament involving the New Zealand Under-18s, Queensland and South Australia all but confirmed that the next time the country’s national women’s team kicked a ball in anger, i.e. now, Michele Keinzley would be among those in line for selection.
So it has proved, and her delight in being selected for the SWANZ is uncontained. "I’m really excited", was her reaction prior to the squad’s departure for Texas, where they will play five matches against state university opposition to prepare them for April’s Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament across the Tasman.
"And I’m looking forward to simply playing", she continued, an understandable response given she last took to the field in August, before an injury brought to a premature end her 2002 campaign, one she really enjoyed.
As one of the squad’s strikers, Michele’s role in the SWANZ is one she’s looking forward to. "As well as scoring goals, my job will involve putting pressure on the opposing defenders, and causing as much havoc as I can to disrupt their play".
And if unsuspecting opponents don’t have their wits about them when in possession, there’s every chance they’ll find Keinzley bearing down on them before they have the opportunity to do much with the ball - make no mistake, she’s quicksilver.
The youngster’s game has improved leaps and bounds since she made the move from Wairarapa United to Ellerslie for the 2002 season. "With Wairarapa, we only had a couple of challenging games per season, against Petone.
"But the level of soccer in Auckland is much stronger - the matches are more demanding, and played with more intensity. Games against the likes of Lynn-Avon United and Takapuna really help to bring about the best in you as a player".
"I really enjoyed playing for Ellerslie last year", says the scorer of seven goals in the Northern Premier Women’s League for the competition’s runners-up. "I relished the challenge, and the change, and I was really happy with my performances over the season".
You can guarantee she’ll be happier still if her penalty box prowess in the Oceania qualifiers can help fire the SWANZ to September’s Women’s World Cup Finals in China.
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NB Michele switched camps again in 2003, transferring to Lynn-Avon United, with whom she won league and cup winners medals, crowning her first success in the Uncle Toby's Knockout Cup Final with a goal in United's 4-1 triumph over her old club, Ellerslie.
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