NEW JOURNEYS AWAIT
Shen’s LaVigne set to play Division II soccer at Roberts Wesleyan College
CLIFTONPARK, NY » Maia LaVigne’s senior soccer season at Shenendehowa didn’t end how anyone would have wanted, but that will not be her last.
“Since I started playing soccer at Shen, I knew that I wanted to play in college,” LaVigne said. “The coach watched me play club last year because she was looking atmy friend Allie (Basila) who goes there now. She is really awesome, I love her coaching style. The campus is really nice as well and I really liked it.”
The senior midfielder and captain is set to continue her soccer career at Roberts-Wesleyan College in Rochester, NY, a member of the NCAA Division II East Coast Conference (ECC).
As LaVigne continues her athletic career in Rochester, she will also be beginning her academic journey of becoming a nurse.
“My aunt is a nurse. Dur-
ing COVID, I had to go to the hospital and I sawhow hard the nurses were working and I knew then that I wanted to help people like that,” LaVigne said, who recently had to choose her major which was between nursing and marketing.
“It was in between nursing and marketing, but I thought that I just wanted to help people more and that’swhy I chose nursing.”
Shenendehowa, a member of the Suburban Council, competed in league games this season and ended the season with a tournament, instead of the usual sectional tournament. Unfortunately the championship game was cancelled due to a COVID issuewith Shaker, their opponent.
When the game was called, Shen scrimmaged against each other to make up for the lost time. As they played for the final time on their home field, while blasting songs like ‘ Year 3000’ by the Jonas Brothers, it set in that this was going to be it.
After the scrimmage, Shenmet in a circle in the middle of the field for one last team meeting, which eventually tuned into a dance- off.
“In that moment, we talked about legacies. We stood on the field here and talked about the greatness that they’re leaving behind,” Shen coach Holli Nirsberger said of
her final message to her seniors. “Their talent and athleticism is visible to all, but what you don’t see is their leadership and commitment to the program, which is just outstanding. They’re outstanding humans who we’re going to miss next year.”
A year from now, LaVigne is going to be in the grind of her first women’s soccer season. She will have a lot of lessons from Shen she can bring to that new experience.
“Always leave everything that you have out on the field,” she said. “That’s what I’m going to take away from playing Shen soccer. When you enter the ‘arena’ you give everything that you have.”
The future Red Hawk
noted that she is looking forward to getting to campus next summer and being able to take advantage of the school’s athletic facilities and student-athlete dorms.
“I’m really just happy that I’m committed because it’s going tomake the rest of my senior year a lot less stressful and I won’t have to worry about finding colleges.”
Even though Shenwasn’t able to compete for a sectional or Suburban Council championship, LaVigne was still able to form new memories with her teammates this season, something that she knows was a privilege this year.
“The team this year was really special. It was probably one of my favorite
years to play on the team because of all the girls on it and the connection we all had. Honestly, it was just so fun this year. I’ve neverhad this much fun playing soccer than I ever had. I’mjust happy to have had a season because I know a lot of other sports and other schools didn’t have that opportunity.”
One moment that will forever stick out for the senior is her game-winning goal in the Suburban quarterfinals against Colonie.
“That moment was really exciting and we won that game. It was a hard game and going to always remember that,” LaVigne said. “I was happy to be able to come out and play this season and that it lasted for as long as it did.”