Colorado State University Athletics
Lordemann helps Rams merge lines
8/20/2019 5:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer, RamWire
Senior's passion has fueled program's change in direction
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Where Caeley Lordemann stands, the line had to form.
When the senior from Greeley stepped on campus three seasons after a one-year stay at Creighton, Colorado State women's soccer coach Bill Hempen knew this to be true.
"She's driven," Hempen said. "She wants to leave here knowing she gave everything she could and be remembered as one of the captains who was part of taking this program to a different level."
Her arrival changed the way the Rams were going to set out to do business. The way they played, thought – and most importantly – the ferocity with which they worked.
"KK", as her teammates call her, was not coming home to play, she came to win. That's not an easy task with a program still in its infancy, a fact of which she was well aware. The notion wasn't lost on those who signed with CSU straight out of high school, either.
What was missing was easy to see.
Lordemann.
"She's always had something about her. She's a game changer," said fellow senior, Maddie Kessler, who played club ball with Lordemann growing up. "She gets the ball, she distributes the ball, she's always part of the attack, she's always part of the defending. She never gives up, so the intensity she brought just really raised everybody's game. We went from running after a ball to attacking a ball, she slid for everything, she pushed everyone for everything and it made everybody's game raise up."
The line forms here.
When it does, Lordemann wants you to look her straight in the eye and bring all you've got.
"Someone said to me once you have to push others to push you," she explained. "So I have to push my teammates in order to make me better at the end of the day."
It could happen at any time, so the advice of head coach Bill Hempen is simple: Be ready.
A teammate cannot hide during individual drills. Even when playing 11 on 11, it will become clear. But if you want to earn Lordemann respect, take her on. She does not have time for someone willing to shy away from her. Her words: "You have to beat the winner to be a winner."
Hempen watches. He's looking for the players on his team willing to take the chance. As a team, the Rams need it, even if it isn't always pretty.
"If they play against her and they're caught in a one-on-one situations, they know that the scales are tilted heavily in their favor," Hempen said. "It's only making them get better, because she's not going to let up. She's going to beat you, and she's going to feel OK about it."
This is what Lordemann likes about the eight freshmen who have joined the program, even the three new transfers. They get in line, and if it doesn't go their way, they go back for round two. Maybe even a third try.
Even new to the program, it took no time at all for Liv Layton to find out who she needed to turn to get ready for the collegiate game. If it was advice she needed, Lordemann would have the answer. She could cover technique and mental fortitude in the same breath. She was always in teaching mode.
Challenging Lordemann, it was going to be a hard part of her growth.
"Yes, because she makes me a better player. You know going into it it's going to be a tough battle," Layton said. "She's going to come into it with all she's got, but it makes you a better player knowing she's most likely going to win and do everything she can to win. But that's making me a better player and making me want to win the next one.
"As soon as it's time to go, it's all about soccer. She's very instructive. She's not mean to you when she wants something to be done, she's more like this needs to be done, or tell you a different way how to do it."
For Lordemann, there is only one way, and that's full go. If you hit one point, find another.
Hempen needs soccer players who can make a good run, then recover in a jiffy to continue the attack or stop the opposition's counter. It's not all about pure speed, it's about the ability to recover to make that next run.
That's what the beep test tells him.
On an unenjoyable scale of 1-10, it's off the charts for the players.
"It's very unenjoyable. It's a 10 for sure," Kessler said. "It's a mental game going in there, but KK loves working out. It's like her passion. All summer she pushed herself, working out with (strength and conditioning coach) Kelsey Zachman and all of us. She'd then go down to Denver and work out more. She set a goal and she'll do anything to reach that goal."
Naturally, Lordemann loves the beep test. Well, maybe not the test itself, but the challenge it represents. Hempen said the nature of it has changed and expanded through the years with available technology. No matter the era, he has no issue claiming she is at an elite level on his all-time roster when it comes to fitness.
With the current beep test, no CSU player had ranged out of 16.
Lordemann scored a 17.2. She laughed about it, all while being dead serious. A good score, yes. That doesn't mean she's happy, and she fully expects to beat it the next time.
The beep test is a spread of 20 meters, and players run back and forth. Keep in mind, the span between beeps gets shorter and shorter with each return.
"My major is health and exercise science, so I'm all about fitness," said Lordemann, who has competed in body building shows. "I want to help people live healthy lives. I don't know what that entails, where that's going to lead me at the end of the day -- sports performance, nutrition, personal training --something to help inspire people to be who they want to be."
For now, she's focused on what she wants her team to be, and that's one which can run all day. If they lose the ball, they get it back. Constantly in attack mode.
Her ability to push through pain and exertion, then be ready to go at it again with the next beep, has rubbed off on the roster. The result is Hempen has his first CSU squad averaging in the 16s as a team.
"We've never had anybody hit level 17 in the fitness test, which is one full level ahead of probably three quarters of our team," Hempen said. "She not only can do it on the field, but she leads by example. If she has something to say, people are going to listen, because they know how much she's put in and they believe in it."
A new line forms.
Pushing her teammates is way of life for Lordemann, but she has her own way. If she does it, they should, too. Watch and learn. Actions speak louder than words.
Hempen is requiring some of those now, too.
"I've seen that from her since she's been here, and we're trying to coax that out of her from being off in the corner and doing her thing and doing her job and not really inserting herself into the conversation of leadership," he said. "That's something we had to coax out of her, because that's not something she necessarily enjoys. I think she's finally realized if she going to do this, be a part of this, she has to be more vocal and more of her personality has to come out."
Her teammates voted her a captain because of her engine, but they are now starting to hear her purr when their motor doesn't match hers. So at practice, when things are starting to slow down, she urges them to pick it up. Yes, she knows they are tired. She is too, but that's no reason to stop.
Still, she's quicker with a smile than a bark, but she's getting there.
"Like I said, work ethic is kinda my thing," Lordemann said. "I've never been someone to yell at people or tell them what to do. It's definitely a challenge to try and vocalize how I'm feeling or what I'm thinking. It's a difficult challenge, but I like it.
"It's funny. I recognize it more when I'm playing. So when we're playing 11 V 11, I don't really say much, so I catch myself – I gotta say something, I've got to remind them, gotta give them a direction or something. It's been challenging, but we're getting better at it."
With her personality, she doesn't have to say much. She doesn't have to paint her face green and gold and orate like William Wallace.
"Oh, when she speaks, you listen," Layton said.
But still, they'll watch. They all will, because Lordemann with the ball is the Rams' best chance for success.
Her first season, she tied for the team lead in goals with three. Last year, she led the Rams with five. It wasn't a target of hers, but it's what happened. It's what the team needed, which is why she was made more of an attacking midfielder.
This season, Hempen would like at balanced ledger.
"We want her on the ball at least 70 percent of the time. The things she brings, she has a good soccer IQ, she's got that," he said. "On top of that, she's got the skills to be able to connect with teammates, to allow her teammates to do the job they're supposed to do in a more efficient manner.
"She has the goods to deliver that pass that's going to make a difference. It's up to her teammates to appreciate the art she provides."
Kessler has seen Lordemann strokes of beauty for years. In Kessler's opinion, there isn't a needle Lordemann can't thread with a ball, a byproduct of exceptional skill and vision.
What makes her so efficient is she's not afraid to take a back seat.
"A huge thing for her is she is not a selfish player. That makes her the kind of player she is," Kessler said. "She's not going out there wanting all the glory, she's going out there to do everything she can to make sure the team gets the glory. She's not going out there saying I need to score, I need to be a ball hog. She gets the ball and she wants to give it to the person with the best opportunity to score. If she's one-on-one with the goalie and there's somebody to the side of her, she's going to pass it to make sure we score."
Her position is still relatively new to her, but she's gaining a trust with the role and how to attack best. While so much of the team is new this year, she's encouraged by the offensive firepower at the forward spots and has worked to decipher how they move, where they are most potent with a ball on foot.
There's still another option to consider – herself. The bottom line is making the right choice.
"That maturity is still coming along," she said. "I think I've gotten more a hang of it, and I think with Gracie Armstrong and Kristen Noonan coming in as transfers, they will make it a lot more challenging in the aspect of knowing when to lay off instead of taking it myself."
Through three weeks of training, some led by the players, finally by the coaches, the lines are clear. One was not more important than the other, each carrying equal weight. That allowed the most important step to take place.
The lines merged.
"I'd say it's the same line. KK, to follow her is to challenge her," Kessler said. "By choosing to go against her, you're following her lead to do everything fearlessly. You're going to do everything as hard as you can, you're going to win every ball, you're going to try every tackle. I think they intermix with each other."
It's not a humble brag, just fact, when Lordemann takes pride in seeing things change since she transferred. Foremost, she's seen a team which works harder than it ever has, and she's proud to have been a mentor.
She also sees a team which possesses the ball better than before, and she feels the Rams will be even better in 2019. She wants to look back in four years, when the current freshmen class is entering their senior season, and see a team further down the path she led them.
Hempen knows that's the only legacy she wants to leave, and she's done her part.
The Rams were more competitive a season ago, lining up a string of overtime contests. One goal makes a difference, and Lordemann feels the influx of new talent will make the difference.
All which remains is results. That's the line she's drawn.
"I think just winning. I want to win more than anything else," Lordemann said. "I always tell people I hate losing more than I like winning, so I want to win and I want that drive to win. I want to push those girls to make conference."
When the senior from Greeley stepped on campus three seasons after a one-year stay at Creighton, Colorado State women's soccer coach Bill Hempen knew this to be true.
"She's driven," Hempen said. "She wants to leave here knowing she gave everything she could and be remembered as one of the captains who was part of taking this program to a different level."
Her arrival changed the way the Rams were going to set out to do business. The way they played, thought – and most importantly – the ferocity with which they worked.
"KK", as her teammates call her, was not coming home to play, she came to win. That's not an easy task with a program still in its infancy, a fact of which she was well aware. The notion wasn't lost on those who signed with CSU straight out of high school, either.
What was missing was easy to see.
Lordemann.
"She's always had something about her. She's a game changer," said fellow senior, Maddie Kessler, who played club ball with Lordemann growing up. "She gets the ball, she distributes the ball, she's always part of the attack, she's always part of the defending. She never gives up, so the intensity she brought just really raised everybody's game. We went from running after a ball to attacking a ball, she slid for everything, she pushed everyone for everything and it made everybody's game raise up."
The line forms here.
When it does, Lordemann wants you to look her straight in the eye and bring all you've got.
"Someone said to me once you have to push others to push you," she explained. "So I have to push my teammates in order to make me better at the end of the day."
It could happen at any time, so the advice of head coach Bill Hempen is simple: Be ready.
A teammate cannot hide during individual drills. Even when playing 11 on 11, it will become clear. But if you want to earn Lordemann respect, take her on. She does not have time for someone willing to shy away from her. Her words: "You have to beat the winner to be a winner."
Hempen watches. He's looking for the players on his team willing to take the chance. As a team, the Rams need it, even if it isn't always pretty.
"If they play against her and they're caught in a one-on-one situations, they know that the scales are tilted heavily in their favor," Hempen said. "It's only making them get better, because she's not going to let up. She's going to beat you, and she's going to feel OK about it."This is what Lordemann likes about the eight freshmen who have joined the program, even the three new transfers. They get in line, and if it doesn't go their way, they go back for round two. Maybe even a third try.
Even new to the program, it took no time at all for Liv Layton to find out who she needed to turn to get ready for the collegiate game. If it was advice she needed, Lordemann would have the answer. She could cover technique and mental fortitude in the same breath. She was always in teaching mode.
Challenging Lordemann, it was going to be a hard part of her growth.
"Yes, because she makes me a better player. You know going into it it's going to be a tough battle," Layton said. "She's going to come into it with all she's got, but it makes you a better player knowing she's most likely going to win and do everything she can to win. But that's making me a better player and making me want to win the next one.
"As soon as it's time to go, it's all about soccer. She's very instructive. She's not mean to you when she wants something to be done, she's more like this needs to be done, or tell you a different way how to do it."
For Lordemann, there is only one way, and that's full go. If you hit one point, find another.
Hempen needs soccer players who can make a good run, then recover in a jiffy to continue the attack or stop the opposition's counter. It's not all about pure speed, it's about the ability to recover to make that next run.
That's what the beep test tells him.
On an unenjoyable scale of 1-10, it's off the charts for the players.
"It's very unenjoyable. It's a 10 for sure," Kessler said. "It's a mental game going in there, but KK loves working out. It's like her passion. All summer she pushed herself, working out with (strength and conditioning coach) Kelsey Zachman and all of us. She'd then go down to Denver and work out more. She set a goal and she'll do anything to reach that goal."
Naturally, Lordemann loves the beep test. Well, maybe not the test itself, but the challenge it represents. Hempen said the nature of it has changed and expanded through the years with available technology. No matter the era, he has no issue claiming she is at an elite level on his all-time roster when it comes to fitness.
With the current beep test, no CSU player had ranged out of 16.
Lordemann scored a 17.2. She laughed about it, all while being dead serious. A good score, yes. That doesn't mean she's happy, and she fully expects to beat it the next time.
The beep test is a spread of 20 meters, and players run back and forth. Keep in mind, the span between beeps gets shorter and shorter with each return.
"My major is health and exercise science, so I'm all about fitness," said Lordemann, who has competed in body building shows. "I want to help people live healthy lives. I don't know what that entails, where that's going to lead me at the end of the day -- sports performance, nutrition, personal training --something to help inspire people to be who they want to be."
For now, she's focused on what she wants her team to be, and that's one which can run all day. If they lose the ball, they get it back. Constantly in attack mode.
Her ability to push through pain and exertion, then be ready to go at it again with the next beep, has rubbed off on the roster. The result is Hempen has his first CSU squad averaging in the 16s as a team.
"We've never had anybody hit level 17 in the fitness test, which is one full level ahead of probably three quarters of our team," Hempen said. "She not only can do it on the field, but she leads by example. If she has something to say, people are going to listen, because they know how much she's put in and they believe in it."
A new line forms.
Pushing her teammates is way of life for Lordemann, but she has her own way. If she does it, they should, too. Watch and learn. Actions speak louder than words.
Hempen is requiring some of those now, too.
"I've seen that from her since she's been here, and we're trying to coax that out of her from being off in the corner and doing her thing and doing her job and not really inserting herself into the conversation of leadership," he said. "That's something we had to coax out of her, because that's not something she necessarily enjoys. I think she's finally realized if she going to do this, be a part of this, she has to be more vocal and more of her personality has to come out."
Her teammates voted her a captain because of her engine, but they are now starting to hear her purr when their motor doesn't match hers. So at practice, when things are starting to slow down, she urges them to pick it up. Yes, she knows they are tired. She is too, but that's no reason to stop.
Still, she's quicker with a smile than a bark, but she's getting there.
"Like I said, work ethic is kinda my thing," Lordemann said. "I've never been someone to yell at people or tell them what to do. It's definitely a challenge to try and vocalize how I'm feeling or what I'm thinking. It's a difficult challenge, but I like it.
"It's funny. I recognize it more when I'm playing. So when we're playing 11 V 11, I don't really say much, so I catch myself – I gotta say something, I've got to remind them, gotta give them a direction or something. It's been challenging, but we're getting better at it."
With her personality, she doesn't have to say much. She doesn't have to paint her face green and gold and orate like William Wallace.
"Oh, when she speaks, you listen," Layton said.
But still, they'll watch. They all will, because Lordemann with the ball is the Rams' best chance for success.
Her first season, she tied for the team lead in goals with three. Last year, she led the Rams with five. It wasn't a target of hers, but it's what happened. It's what the team needed, which is why she was made more of an attacking midfielder.
This season, Hempen would like at balanced ledger.
"We want her on the ball at least 70 percent of the time. The things she brings, she has a good soccer IQ, she's got that," he said. "On top of that, she's got the skills to be able to connect with teammates, to allow her teammates to do the job they're supposed to do in a more efficient manner.
"She has the goods to deliver that pass that's going to make a difference. It's up to her teammates to appreciate the art she provides."
Kessler has seen Lordemann strokes of beauty for years. In Kessler's opinion, there isn't a needle Lordemann can't thread with a ball, a byproduct of exceptional skill and vision.
What makes her so efficient is she's not afraid to take a back seat.
"A huge thing for her is she is not a selfish player. That makes her the kind of player she is," Kessler said. "She's not going out there wanting all the glory, she's going out there to do everything she can to make sure the team gets the glory. She's not going out there saying I need to score, I need to be a ball hog. She gets the ball and she wants to give it to the person with the best opportunity to score. If she's one-on-one with the goalie and there's somebody to the side of her, she's going to pass it to make sure we score."
Her position is still relatively new to her, but she's gaining a trust with the role and how to attack best. While so much of the team is new this year, she's encouraged by the offensive firepower at the forward spots and has worked to decipher how they move, where they are most potent with a ball on foot.
There's still another option to consider – herself. The bottom line is making the right choice.
"That maturity is still coming along," she said. "I think I've gotten more a hang of it, and I think with Gracie Armstrong and Kristen Noonan coming in as transfers, they will make it a lot more challenging in the aspect of knowing when to lay off instead of taking it myself."
Through three weeks of training, some led by the players, finally by the coaches, the lines are clear. One was not more important than the other, each carrying equal weight. That allowed the most important step to take place.
The lines merged.
"I'd say it's the same line. KK, to follow her is to challenge her," Kessler said. "By choosing to go against her, you're following her lead to do everything fearlessly. You're going to do everything as hard as you can, you're going to win every ball, you're going to try every tackle. I think they intermix with each other."It's not a humble brag, just fact, when Lordemann takes pride in seeing things change since she transferred. Foremost, she's seen a team which works harder than it ever has, and she's proud to have been a mentor.
She also sees a team which possesses the ball better than before, and she feels the Rams will be even better in 2019. She wants to look back in four years, when the current freshmen class is entering their senior season, and see a team further down the path she led them.
Hempen knows that's the only legacy she wants to leave, and she's done her part.
The Rams were more competitive a season ago, lining up a string of overtime contests. One goal makes a difference, and Lordemann feels the influx of new talent will make the difference.
All which remains is results. That's the line she's drawn.
"I think just winning. I want to win more than anything else," Lordemann said. "I always tell people I hate losing more than I like winning, so I want to win and I want that drive to win. I want to push those girls to make conference."
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Soccer
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