In November’s loss to Western Michigan in the Mid-American Conference semi finals matchup, many members of the Kent State soccer team laced up the cleats for the last time in their collegiate careers.
Seniors Heidi Marshall, Alisa Arthur, Siena Stambolich, Joey Skillen, Kate Thill and Anna Memija played their last game that day.
“We have a great group of seniors that are leading a great group of young women, so I think they’ve done an amazing job,” coach Rob Marinaro said. “The fact that we’re sitting right now in the Final Four is a great tribute to that senior class.”
Five out of the six seniors have played for the Flashes for all four years.
“They’re responsible for leading by example, and going up and doing that themselves,” Marinaro said. “They’re in a leadership role. Sometimes it’s being hard on somebody, sometimes it’s having a shoulder to cry on, or whatever it might take. We have seven unbelievable young women that are doing that for us on a daily basis.”
More than half of the team are underclassmen players, so it was important for the seniors to step up and lead the team.
The seniors have stepped up and led by contributing 15 goals and six assists this season. The seniors scored half of the team’s 30 goals this season and helped with over 25% of the team’s assists.
“I expect leadership, which entails almost everything,” Marinaro said. “The team needs to be prepared mentally, physically and they need to have a positive mindset. They need to be ready to play in every single game, and not just that, but train at a real high level.”
Arthur and Stambolich have been playing the midfield for all four years. They were the primary point-getters this season, as Arthur had 23 points and Stambolich had 12, which were first and second on the team, respectively.
“On the field, Alisa and Siena have been major contributors,” Marinaro said. “They are just tremendous soccer players, and their awards and statistics speak for themselves. They’re just great teammates, and that’s way more important to us as a team.”
Arthur led the team in many categories offensively this season. She scored 11 goals, took 61 shots and had 32 shots on goal, which all lead the team. She appeared in all 19 games this season for the Flashes and played for over 1,550 minutes.
In the two postseason games Arthur and the Flashes appeared in, the midfielder scored twice on six shots.
At the end of the season, Arthur was awarded with Second Team All-MAC honors. At the end of the postseason, Arthur was also awarded with being on the MAC All-Tournament Team.
“It’s a really cool award, and it’s nice to have that, but I think for any and all of us, there is no award out there that really describes us as a player,” Arthur said. “We’re all great players on the field and doing what we can.”
As a four year starter, Arthur has appeared in 79 games and started in 78 of them. After playing so many games for the Flashes, Arthur has established herself as a leader for younger and veteran Flashes players.
Going into her senior year, Arthur knew she would need to take on the role, and part of her duties included “scoring, assisting or helping younger people.”
Prior to Kent State and taking on the role of being a leader, Arthur got her start in club soccer. As a freshman, she started in 21 games, and continued to be a starter for almost every single college game she has played.
“I think seeing the leaders before me, like Tiana Harris, who did a really awesome job – I have to take some of the things that she did well, and create my own leadership style,” Arthur said.
After almost 80 games under her belt, Arthur’s best memory on Kent State’s team was making it to two championships last season.
After graduating, Arthur hopes to keep playing soccer.
“I want to keep playing professionally, and hopefully go overseas,” Arthur said. “I don’t have a specific team, just hopefully one that can give me an opportunity to keep playing.”
After leaving the team at the end of the school year, she hopes to leave a positive impact on the team for future players.
Arthur is leaving behind quite a legacy at KSU – in her four years, Arthur has compiled 27 goals and 68 points. She is fifth all-time in goals scored in KSU history and tied for fifth in program history in career points scored.
She is also top-10 in program history in career shots (184 – seventh), shots on goal (86 – seventh), game-winning goals (8 – T-4th), minutes played (5953 – second) and games started (78 – T-7th).
“I just hope the younger players can see what the seniors have been building, trust each other, rely on each other to do what we can on and off the field and at the end of the day, win games,” Arthur said.
On the other side of the ball, goalkeeper Heidi Marshall has been a part of the team for the past four years. While she did not get playing time as an underclassman, she stepped up for her senior season and was a leader.
In her first three years on the team, Marshall made five appearances – in her senior year, she started in all 19 games.
“It was hard at first always starting my whole life until I got to college, and then not starting was a little bit rough for me in the beginning,” she said. “I found my place on the team and my purpose.”
In her five appearances before her senior year, she allowed eight goals and made two saves. She was 1-1 and was not credited with wins or losses in her other three games.
“Not starting for the first three years really showed me how important the bench is and how important my role is, not only on the field, but off of the field too,” Marshall said. “ I wouldn’t have traded it for any other way. It showed me what hard work is, and how to earn my starting spot on the team.”
Marshall has been a crucial part of the team this season. In her first season playing big minutes, she turned out a stellar senior season.
The keeper only allowed 29 goals and had a 1.57 goals allowed per game average in her 19 starts. She made 53 saves, leading to a 64.6% save percentage on her way to a 9-7-2 record. She had five shutouts this season.
“I knew that this year I was going to have a bigger role on the team than I have in the past, because we have such a young team, and there is a lot of talent,” Marshall said. “Being a freshman previously, and having great leaders that led our team, I just knew that it was going to take me, Alisa, Siena and other girls on this team to really set into place our values, morals and standards on this team and to show them what it’s going to take to be successful.”
Marshall was seventh in the MAC in shutouts this season, and she made eight saves in the MAC playoffs while facing 27 shots.
“Goalies have the most pressure on that field no matter what sport you play,” Marshall said. “It’s not an easy job being a goalie, but we thrive off of the pressure. I love having the pressure, but it was something different that I had to get used to. I feel like the team relieves my pressure.”
With graduation on the horizon for Marshall, her plans are still “unknown.” She does not know yet whether to pursue her Master’s Degree or go straight into the sports marketing industry.
“I want to impact every single girl on this team’s life, whether that’s on the field, or if it’s impacting them off the field,” Marshall said. “I show up every day with a smile on my face, hugging all the girls, loving on them and showing them that this is fun. We are meant to be here. I just want to make a positive impact on them, not only as players, but as human beings too, so that later on down the road, they can inspire the future generation that’s coming into Kent State soccer.”
Kent State will surely miss the presence of the soccer team’s seniors next season.
The seniors led in the box score, led off the field and made it to the MAC playoffs and succeeded. The team’s success this season is due in large part to the play and impact of the seniors.
“They start by being great people, and it’s something that we pride ourselves in this program,” Marinaro said. “We want to be a great soccer team, but more than anything, we want to be a wonderful group of people that are leading and contributing on and off the field, because at the end of the day, we represent Kent State University.”
Kent State will have a hard time making up the difference the seniors left at the start of next season, but returning players like MAC Freshman of the Year forward Jules Dolinski, defenseman Ava Todd and junior defenseman Kelsey Salopek will help the team out greatly.
Marinaro will lead the Flashes once again in 2025 without some of the best players in program history next season.
“They’ve left their mark on this team,” Marinaro said. “We really just wish them the absolute best. They’re going to be successful because they are. They’re just fantastic people, and they work extremely hard. They know how to be successful. They know how to lead.”
Emily Lowen is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].
