Brock goalie rides high into 2018 season
Brock women’s soccer goalie Marilena Spagnolo comes out to make a save during last weekend’s game versus Western. Spagnolo was named Brock’s female athlete of the week. Photos special to BPSN.
Brock women’s soccer goalie Marilena Spagnolo rode a wave of success into the 2018 Ontario University Athletics regular season.
“I was on a high last year in terms of us winning a lot of games and I had a lot of shutouts and everything, but the play is very different now,” the 20-year old St. Catharines native said.
“I find that this year I’m more comfortable in situations where I wasn’t (before).”
This season’s games are much different compared to last year.
“I have more than 10 shots every game so my fitness level is there for those shots as opposed to last year when it was below five shots and it was making sure the saves were there,” she said. “I’m more confident, my (ball) distribution is more accurate, I take risks when I need to and I am not afraid to understand when I make a mistake because my team relies on me too.”
Brock’s reigning female athlete of the week sits second in the OUA with a .889 save percentage and third in saves with 64.
The former West Park and Sir Winston Churchill student has no problems facing a lot of shots.
“I like shots during the game because I get a high from it if it’s a really good save or even if it’s a small one,” she said. “I just want to do my job. I want to help my team in any way.”
Brock sits in eighth place in the nine-team OUA West Division with a 2-4-3 mark, but Spagnolo remains confident in her team.
“I think we are going to make the playoffs,” she said. “Every team has struggled at the beginning. We are limited with resources and we do the best we can. We know we can do it. It is just the mental aspect for us.”
A recent tie with the fifth-ranked Western Mustangs has given credence to that belief.
“We are pretty confident that we are going to make it there and I don’t care about my stats,” Spagnolo said. “I just care about getting my team to the playoffs.”
She is now in her third year at Brock.
“I had offers in the States, but hearing from friends and family who had been in the States, they kind of persuaded me to stay in Canada.
It turned out to be the right decision.
“I get more playing time now and I would rather be somewhere where I can touch the ball all the time and have my confidence.”
Her final decision to go to Brock was influenced by her mother.
“My mom (Rossana) kind of made the decision and it was all about whether I was happy. That’s all she and I cared about as long as I was playing soccer.”
Spagnolo suited up for the St. Catharines Jets under-21 provincial team until joining the Hamilton United League1 semi-pro squad.
“In the summertime, I almost had the opportunity to play against the national rec program so I want to get to that further step and maybe potentially play in Europe or somewhere.”
She believes that goal is realistic.
“I am confident that I have the ability for it, but I have to keep improving,” she said. “I can’t settle for where I am right now.”
Spagnolo finds the student/athlete lifestyle a breeze.
“I always been an athlete ever since I was a little kid,” she said. “I have always been at that level where it’s intensity, intensity, intensity and school, school, school,” she said. “It was never where I would take a break for a month and go on a cruise or something.
“I was always focusing on the next step in my career.”
Last year, Spagnolo also played on Brock’s women’s volleyball team.
“One of the varsity players for volleyball (Emily Armstrong) was hesitant about playing soccer so I told her that if she tried out for soccer I would go to try out for volleyball,” she said.
“It all kind of worked out. I didn’t get a lot of paying time which is understandable because you have to earn your time, but it was very intense and I saw myself grow from the perspective of soccer with my reaction times.”
She is sticking to just one varsity sport this season.
“My main sport is soccer and I have to really focus on it,” she said.
