Two freshmen soccer players are wasting no time making an impact on the field for the Pirates.
Both girls have made helped the team on the field early this season. Both have played in all six of the Pirates' games.
Sarah Cortes scored more than 80 goals in four varsity seasons for Paramus High School and was named to First Team All-League and All-County honors. She broke her school's all-time assists record during her senior season.
Frankie Maier was a four-time All-League performer at the mid- field position for River Dell High School. She was named North- Jersey.com Player of the Year as a senior. Maier graduated with 52 goals and 45 assists, earning her the number 13 rank amongst prospects in the state of New Jersey by TopDrawerSoccer.com.
These two are not taking their opportunities for granted. In fact, they have been competing against each other since the summer to get ready for the season.
"Sarah and I went to summer camp all summer in hopes of improving and to make sure we came to Seton Hall prepared," said Maier. "It was nice to see a familiar face once I got to school," Cortes added.
Maier has scored this season, registering a goal in a win against Army on Aug. 30. Despite the early goal, Maier is far from satisfied.
"My goal is to score more and to make our positions more definite in the starting lineup," Maier said. Cortes has been unable to register a goal so far but, she picked up her first collegiate point with an assist against Monmouth last week.
"I'd like to score a goal," Cortes joked when asked what personal goals she had for herself in her first season at the Hall. "I'm a forward, so I should be scoring."
Despite all of the success the girls have found early on, they were not afraid to share how nervous they were before the games began.
"I was nervous coming into it because it's a completely different level than high school or club," Cortes said.
Maier said the bulk of her nerves came in the preseason when she had to earn her spot in the line- up.
The two agreed that the upperclassmen have played major roles in easing those nerves.
"The upperclassmen really made it easy for me to transition into the college level," Cortes said. "It's definitely become not as bad as I thought it would be."
"It takes time to get friendly, but were all starting to click and become friends," Maier added.
Maier had an impressive senior season, finishing with 19 goals and 25 assists. She scored three goals in a game twice last season at River Dell High School.
Cortes also finished her high school career strong, scoring 22 goals and 14 assists. She scored three goals in four of her senior season games.
David Heim can be reached at david.heim@student.shu.edu
