Cason ready to bring her best to ETSU
For the past three seasons, Molly Cason has left an indelible mark on the Heritage Lady Generals’ soccer program, one that she hopes to add to in the spring of 2023.
Already with 20 career goals and 15 career assists, while primarily serving as a lockdown defender, Cason helped the Navy-and-Red to a Final Four appearance as a sophomore and an Elite Eight appearance in 2022.
It’s a mark that she also hopes to leave on her future program at East Tennessee State University.
Cason recently signed her papers to continue her playing career at the next level and said that she was “excited” about her soccer future.
“I think that it’s a lot of hard work paying off and I’ve had a good group of people around me coaching me, a good support group, so it feels really good to be committed to somewhere that I’m really excited to be going,” she said. “I love the coaches there, so I’m just excited all the way around.”
“We believe Molly is a player who has a tremendous amount of potential to help our program,” ETSU head coach Jay Yelton said on his team’s website following Signing Day. “She’s a hardnosed and gritty player who also has a very good technical base to her game.
“What I love the most about Molly is her competitiveness as she consistently brings her best every time she steps on the field. Those attributes will carry her far as a Buc.”
Although she normally plays more of a defensive midfield spot, Cason knows how to find the back of the net. She tallied nine goals and five assists as a sophomore and 11 goals and 10 assists last spring as the Lady
Generals went 14-2-1 and finished as the Region 7-AAAA runner-up.
“I think I’m a pretty hard worker and a good team player,” she said. “I’m here for the social aspect of (college soccer) and to make a difference in that part of it and on the field. I’m just ready to earn my spot.”
Heritage head coach Kevin
Terry said that apart from being “an incredible human being and an excellent student that just excels at everything she does”, Cason was “a force and a presence” in the locker room and on the field, despite her usual quiet demeanor away from soccer.
“She was one of our captains last year and I think
she really stepped forward as a leader and was able to find her voice a little,” he explained. “This year, being a senior of course, she’ll definitely be one of our leaders. She does everything we ask and she works hard. She’s tough and just so talented. She not only plays back on defense, but she’s the genesis of so
many of our attacks too.”
Cason, who plays club soccer for FC Alliance out of Knoxville, said she plans to study elementary education with an eye on coaching the sport down the road.
“I think it would be really cool to come back to this area and pick up a high school team,” she added.