When the Dominican University of California women's soccer team stages its annual Senior Day on Saturday and Julianna Bratsberg walks to midfield with her parents to be recognized, there may be more than few people in the crowd thinking, "G is playing her last game here?”

Bratsberg is a graduate student in Occupational Therapy at Dominican who actually walked at commencement last May as an undergraduate. But, because she redshirted her sophomore year with a hip injury, Bratsberg has become a mainstay around campus. In fact, her game against Point Loma at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday will be her 68th for the Lady Penguins, a career that has seen her score 29 goals with 12 assists for 70 points.

Yet Bratsberg's contributions to Dominican go far beyond her statistics. She has been an ambassador for the University on several fronts and has helped connect Dominican with the community through charitable work. Her legacy at Dominican is greater than what she has done with a soccer ball.

“The injury really taught me that there is a lot more to me than athletic ability,” Bratsberg says. “I've forged some really awesome relationships. My picture might hang on a wall for soccer someday, but I hope I'm remembered for more than that.”

Known simply as “G,” – a nickname given years ago by a young cousin who couldn't pronounce Julianna --  Bratsberg has become such a fixture for the program that Director of Soccer Jon Delano kids her that “G” now stands for “Grandma.” She will be the oldest of the Dominican seniors – Emily Whitaker, Alex Moran, Mary Wheeler,  Mallory Engelhardt, and Bratsberg's best  friend Devan Weber – honored on Saturday.
Her first year at Dominican, Bratsberg scored 12 goals and was named the NAIA's California Pacific Conference Freshman of the Year.  However, the hip injury prevented Bratsberg from playing as a sophomore when the likes of Moran, Wheeler, and Whitaker arrived at Dominican.

“It's really weird that I have an extra year on them,” Bratsberg says. “But I would never take back my injury. I learned through the struggle and having the chance to play with this very special team this year has been one of my greatest experiences at Dominican.”

When Bratsberg scored her first goal in the team's first win of the 2010 season after her redshirt year  — a moment she lists among her proudest  — and added six more, her new teammates came to realize how important she was to the team.

Bratsberg's dedication as a student-athlete extends to the community at well. Last year she and Weber organized a group of approximately 85 student-athletes to participate in “Gift of Love,” an annual Marin County-wide community service project. Bratsberg, a civic-minded member of the Anthem Church parish in San Rafael, also has organized a Bible study class on campus called Roots.

Following her OT internship, Bratsberg will seek her OT license and look for a career in the field. She would like to combine mission work with health care, such as traveling on Mercy Ships. She also has expressed an interest to work with paralympians as an occupational therapist.

“There are bigger plans. Something will fill that void when I'm done,” Bratsberg says.

Soccer, as she has known it, will end on Saturday. For five years she had led the Lady Penguins' progression from a Bay Area-based conference to a new conference that stretches from the Arizona desert to Diamond Head, from Southern California to the North Shore of Oahu.

“I've had friends that played at NCAA Division I schools and kind of sat through the programs,” Bratsberg says. “To be so involved and be such a part of this has been such a blessing. I wouldn't change a thing.”