Alivia Milesky went home after Ohio’s 1-1 draw with Akron on Oct. 10 to share a moment with her older sister, Alexis.
In the match against the Zips, Alivia scored the Bobcats’ lone goal and moved into fifth place for most career goals in Ohio history.
The person she passed to secure the milestone?
Her older sister. And as the younger sibling would do, she went home to brag.
“It feels good to finally beat her at something,” Alivia said.
When Alivia asked Alexis how it felt to be passed up by her younger sister, the former Bobcat replied that she didn’t even realize she was in fifth place to begin with.
Alexis, who played from 2013-15, appreciated the individual achievements when they came, but her main focus always came back to the play of the team. Alivia shares that same mentality.
This season, Ohio has been up and down but one constant on the offensive side has been the play of Milesky, the senior midfielder. She currently leads the Bobcats in goals with seven. That number is also good for fourth place in the Mid-American Conference for goals scored.
She is also active in finding her teammates and setting them up to score. Milesky is second on Ohio and tied for eighth in the MAC with five assists on the season.
The Bobcats’ offense has run through Milesky this season and she has given them enough proof as to why coach Aaron Rodgers was right to put his trust in her as Ohio’s go-to player.
Milesky did not have the confidence to be put in such a position when she first came to Athens. In her freshman season, she often felt hesitant to make a play out on the pitch and she didn’t know how she fit into the team.
As her college career progressed, Mileksy got help from Rodgers and then-assistant coach Debs Brereton to find the confidence she needed to take the next step as a player. And as her confidence grew, so did her leadership ability.
“A big thing for me is to keep everyone’s heads up,” Milesky said. “I think that’s very important that they know that I have their back and that I’m always going to be there for them.”
Her leadership ability has been tested this season with portions of the schedule where Ohio has struggled. Milesky put it on herself to make that morale stayed high during these times.
While her presence as a leader was something she had to grow into, Milesky knew she had that ability in her.
How did she know? She saw the same leadership in her sister.
For Alivia, comparing herself to the high standards of Alexis was one of the biggest motivators growing up and it still pushes her to be great even as her collegiate career winds down.
Greatness is what Milesky has achieved in her career at Ohio, and the proof is noted with her position on the all-time Bobcat goal-scorers list. But like many great athletes, Milesky is not content until she is the best.
The Bobcats have three regular-season games and possible postseason play in the MAC tournament left for the 2019 season. In that time, Milesky wants to continue to climb as high as she can up the goal-scorers list.
“There’s no limit,” Milesky said. “I strive to make the team better as well, but it would be amazing to make the team better by scoring.”
Whether or not she moves up the list before the season ends — she currently sits at 19 goals and the person above her, Amy Lower, sits at 20 — Milesky will have no regrets about her college career because she worked as hard as she can to be the best.
Even if it meant having to top her sister in the process.
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