Eudora ? Emily Gloshen’s story starts because she is a girl starting for Eudora High’s boys soccer team.

But it becomes even more intriguing when you take into account that this is her first year of playing soccer — ever.

“I was pretty surprised that I was able to come out and have the kind of success I’ve had,” said Gloshen, who, despite her winless Cardinals’ 10-0 mercy-rule loss Monday evening against Ottawa, again proved she could stand up to the challenge of her opposing male counterparts.

“It’s pretty amazing that she can play at the level she is, without much experience,” Ottawa coach Glenn Cahill said. “Obviously some of the guys she’s playing against are a little stronger and more experienced, but she holds her own. It would be kind of interesting to see how she would do against just girls.”

Unfortunately for the 11 female players in the Cardinals’ soccer program, a team of their own doesn’t seem likely in the near future.

It was nudging from some of her male counterparts in a physical education class that prompted Gloshen to try out.

“My coach says a lot of my success stems from my aggressiveness,” said Gloshen, who is a defender. “I won’t back down from the boys.”

Gloshen isn’t 100 percent sure where that kind of feistiness comes from because she has no brothers. Maybe it comes from basketball, she says.

“I’ve played basketball since I was really little, and there’s a lot of contact in that sport, which I like,” Gloshen said. “Soccer is even more physical, and they let you get away with a lot more.”

Ottawa's Eric Gibson (12) eyes the ball against Eudora's Connor Hartpence. The Cyclones clubbed the Cardinals, 10-0, on Monday at Eudora.

Unfortunately for Gloshen that also has backfired. In a couple of contests, Gloshen has taken cheap shots from some opponents because she is a girl.

“Some of them are pretty sad,” EHS coach Erik Peltzman said. “A couple of guys get their egos broke, and they go after her when no one’s looking.”

Gloshen said her gender hasn’t been a big deal, and that a few negative instances were forgotten because of the support she has received from teammates.

However, one of those Cardinals, sophomore Ashley Coffman, said that Gloshen’s gender-bursting breakthrough this season is a bold headline.

“She’s definitely the person that all of us girls look up to,” Coffman said. “Just to see her go out and not only play with the guys, but do well against them gives us hope that we might be able to do the same thing in the future.”