Undergraduate assistant Luli Gomez Teruel exhausted her final two years of field hockey and now is balancing her time, acting, going to class and helping the Bobcats.
Luli Gomez Teruel lives a dual lifestyle.
Some could recall her leading the Bobcats in scoring and causing havoc on the frontline just last season, but Teruel hasn’t only generated an impact at Pruitt Field. She has also made a career at the Elizabeth Evans Baker Theater.
Last Friday, Teruel watched Ohio defeat Mid-American Conference opponent Missouri State as an undergraduate assistant, but in the evening, she acted in the show, Rashomon, as the mother of Masago — the central woman to the story.
Emilio Tirri, who acts alongside Teruel in Rashomon, commends Teruel’s efforts to work in both capacities.
“She is a very mature, serious actress and she does her job very well,” Tirri said. “She’s very professional and she’s there for a reason — she’s there to do the work.”
Teruel’s situation is fairly untraditional. Despite only playing for the Bobcats for two seasons, she has continued her studies at Ohio University as a theater performance major. Even though she is considered a ‘super senior’ credit-wise, she still has one more year in the junior studio.
The reason Teruel, who hails from Salta, Argentina, was only allowed to play two seasons for Ohio was because she played four years at the Popeye Beisbol Club — one of Argentina’s Premier club teams.
According to the NCAA, there are no restrictions on what age you can play a Division I sport, however, Teruel exhausted her eligibility after the last season, causing an abrupt change in her routine.
“It’s weird, I’m still getting used to it,” Teruel said. “Especially because I can’t come to every single practice, because of class, or I have rehearsals and they’re on the road, so I can’t go with (the team).”
During her two years, Teruel was an integral part of the Bobcats. She scored 40 total points in her career and became only the fifth player in Ohio history to be named the MAC Player of the Year.
Currently, as she is now away from the field, Teruel has had to balance her time assisting the team, studying theater and rehearsing for shows.
“She’s great. When she’s in a show, she’s there, she does the work for whatever part she has and she does it specifically,” Tirri said. “In what we do, as actors, that’s very important — to always be a hundred percent and she is.”
While perfecting her role in Rashomon, Teruel has maintained her close relationship with coach Neil Macmillan and the Bobcats.
Senior goalie Brittany Walker said that her and Teruel became close last season, as they were roommates during road trips. The construction of Pruitt Field caused the Bobcats to play 12 of their first games on the road last season.
“I got to get to know her on a personal level and on the field,” Walker said. “She’s one of those tenacious forwards thats always hungry for the ball, hungry for a goal.
“Off the field, she’s such a goofy personality, very funny, easygoing … (she’s) trying to be aggressive and make us better, but off the field, she always brings that happy, positive side that every team needs.”
Macmillan said he is satisfied with the way Teruel has adjusted to the switch and acknowledged her commitment to coming to practice and implementing her knowledge of the forward line to Ohio.
In the past six games, the Bobcats offense has scored 13 of their 17 goals this season and solidified the fourth seed in the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
“She’s really beneficial (as a coach), because she had a great impact on the forward line,” redshirt sophomore Vicky Nase said. “She can really tell us what she took from her two years here and really implement into our offense.”
Over the year, Teruel has tried to meticulously teach and implement her knowledge to Ohio’s youth.
“I’m still learning how to explain things that I know how to do, but when you try to explain them, it’s like ‘Oh, what do I do here,’ ” Teruel said. “Because when you’re playing, you’re just doing them, you don’t think about what you’re doing. But when you have to explain something step-by-step, that’s when it gets complicated.”
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