Marist Builds First Ever Girls Club Soccer Team

For the first time in Marist College history, a women’s club soccer team has been created. Most assume that their sport already exists at Marist, especially considering they are a D1 school and foster many clubs and intramural sports. However, that has changed today. 

Victoria Enright ’24 sparked the idea in late 2020 and took the initiative to start a team on her own. But, it wasn’t until fall of 2021 where the ball really got rolling.

Enright gathered some friends that shared the love of the game and first pitched the idea to SGA. About a month later, the club was approved for funding and they were cleared to hold tryouts. Enright and her team worked closely with Julie Byron, the Assistant Athletic Director, and the men’s club soccer team to write out the bylaws and build the club from scratch.

“Whenever I had logistic questions, I asked Julie Byron,” Enright said. “She was really pushing for this team.” 

The Executive Board, composed of Enright, Amanda Lubben, Haley Fasano, Juliana Hannigan, and Jessica Cerrato, held tryouts back in March. Over 40 players showed up for the three day tryout session. The board took 23 players from the original tryout, then reheld tryouts over labor day to give the opportunity to freshmen and students abroad as well. Eventually, their roster was filled with 25 names. 

Then about three weeks ago, the girls were able to play in their very first game.

“I am going to be honest, I was really nervous the first time,” said Enright. She is responsible both for defending the goal and for coaching the team overall, since they do not have a separate coach.

Their first game was a 1-0 win against Montclair state, followed by another 1-0 win against RPI the next week. Last Thursday, they played their third game against the University of Albany and Olivia Paulinson, number 5, scored the only two goals of the season, while the back line shut out every team.

Their short season only consists of five games against other schools like Siena and Binghamton. Enright says that winning the league and competing in regionals is the end goal, and she is pushing the girls hard to achieve that. 

“Girls soccer is a contact sport, so for injury prevention we practice two days a week and lift the other two days,” she said.

According to Enright, all the girls really want to be there and show a lot of heart. The players were really excited after the first game, where they played possession extremely well. 

While each team is a new challenge, the team has a powerful back line; Sarah Dill and Amanda Lee have great chemistry and work well moving the ball up the field. Another dynamic duo that dominates the forward positions are Courtney Lovin and Jenna Champagne.

While their season may be short, they are still looking for more players in the future and are hoping to hold friendly matches in the spring. For a brand new team, the women’s club soccer is making great strides. . 

“The team has a really strong outlook not only for this year, but for years to come,” Enright said. 

The Marist Women’s Club Soccer Team dominates the field against RPI on September

Photos by Delaney B. James.