A sport that was once about following in her siblings’ footsteps has now turned into so much more for senior Paige Markesich. When Markesich stepped onto the soccer field for the first time at four years old, she never dreamed it would lead to her playing Division III for the State University of New York (SUNY) in Cortland, but her hard work has made those high hopes a reality.
Markesich chose SUNY Cortland because of its welcoming community and their great physical therapy program which she will be starting in the fall.
Markesich began her career playing for the Westford youth team, and later playing for Blanchard Middle School. However, she had yet to begin her journey as a goalkeeper at that point in time.
While playing for the town and for her middle school, Markesich and her teammates would often rotate who would play in goal. According to Markesich, she was often praised for how well she played in that position, and at nine years old, this talent started her passion for protecting the net.
After dropping basketball just before high school, Markesich fully committed to playing year-round soccer as a member of both the Ghosts and also the FC Stars club in Lancaster, MA. According to Markesich, her realization that she wanted to continue to play soccer in college came after she started playing for a club team.
“I realized that if I was putting all the time and effort into [soccer], and I really enjoyed it, and I was good at it, [that] I should probably try and see where it led me,” Markesich said.
Markesich also takes significant inspiration from her family, especially her brother Chris Markesich who also went Division III for soccer at SUNY Brockport.
“I would probably say my brother [is my biggest inspiration] because […] we’ve been playing soccer together for a really long time, and he also helped me with the whole entire [commitment] process,” Markesich said. “Seeing his hard work pay off made me want to really see my work pay off [too].”
Towards the end of her sophomore year, Markesich started to take the possibility of playing in college more seriously. After the stress of waiting for email responses from coaches to whom she sent her highlight reels, Markesich began to receive offers from schools as she entered her junior year.
“I wanted to keep my options open [and] I didn’t want to commit too early because I thought it’d be important to see the schools and get to play with the teams,” Markesich said.
According to Markesich, she knew she wanted a school that was centered around athletes and had a good community. Although she looked at multiple schools, especially many in New York, she ultimately decided that Cortland offered everything that she dreamed of.
Not only was the community and size of the school perfect for her, but the physical therapy major she wanted to pursue also had a great program. Markesich’s physical therapy aspirations stem from her love of sports and wanting to work closely with athletes.
“I thought [physical therapy] would be really fun and I like science, but not enough to go into biology [or] things with cells […], but I think the human body is really cool,” Markesich said.
Before committing to SUNY Cortland, Markesich was able to gain first hand experience by attending an overnight stay with the team that the Cortland coach, Heidi Axtell, invited her to take part in. According to Markesich, this sealed the deal for her, as she was able to experience the welcoming atmosphere of the entire team. Through this visit she was also able to solidify her enjoyment of the campus and overall feel of the school.
After committing over the phone on Sept. 9, everything truly became real for Markesich. Although she was the one that physically committed to play soccer in college, Markesich attributes much of her success to her supportive teammates and coaches who helped her build her confidence as a goalie.
While Markesich gains experience and support from all of her teammates, she spends the most time with her companion goalie, senior captain Olivia Cipriano who loves to share knowledge and get stronger in goal alongside Markesich.
“I love playing with [Markesich] because she is always pushing me to be a better and stronger player. Since me and Paige never get to play on the field together, practices are definitely where we help each other improve,” Cipriano said. “We are always helping each other when we have questions or if we are just pushing each other to play harder in order to get better. We are constantly talking about what we can do to save harder shots or awkward angles, or just chatting about little things.”
According to senior captain Eleni Stowell, Markesich is not only a great player on the field but also an amazing and uplifting person off the field.
“Paige is a very driven and intelligent person. She commands the whole field from the net and is vocal as to what she needs from her teammates. She is able to master an important combination of quick reactions on the ground and technical ability with her feet,” Stowell said. “Off the field, Paige is a hardworking student, a reliable person, [and] she has a great sense of humor and is always willing to lend a helping hand.”
As Markesich closes out her last year of high school athletics, she is excited to see how she will grow as a player while transitioning to the collegiate level.
“I feel like the college environment is so much more competitive and so different than club or even high school,” Markesich said. “Then obviously my parents aren’t going to be there, but it’s part of your identity and having growth.”
