You may know Natalie Nevins as a former writer for The Pioneer. However she is now a college student at Saint Joseph’s University and a freshman phenom on the women’s soccer team. 

Committing to Saint Joe’s in October of 2018 gave Nevins a lot of time to anticipate finally heading off to college. However she did not expect her freshman year to be filled with uncertainty and ambiguity surrounding the upbringing of Covid-19. This caused her soccer season to be moved from the fall to the spring, but Nevins looked to the positive side of things. She stated, “I was lucky enough to use the fall as an opportunity to acclimate myself to the school and being a college athlete, and get the hang of practicing, studying and being a college student at the same time.”

Coming into a new school and soccer program is always intimidating at first and while Nevins was very excited, she did have the initial nerves as well. “Naturally I was nervous coming in as a freshman just because I knew I was starting all over again and didn’t really know what to expect,” Nevins stated. “At the same time, I knew that I was coming into a program with coaches that were going to take really good care of me and welcome me with open arms.”

Despite a very different and unfamiliar freshman experience at a new school, Nevins reflected on how well WOHS had prepared her for college. She stated, “Reflecting back on my experiences at WOHS it is incredibly evident that I was the utmost prepared for both college and college soccer. As far as academics, my amazing list of teachers at WOHS forced me to grow both inside and outside of the classroom and ensured that I would be incredibly prepared for everything and anything professors would throw at me. From a soccer standpoint, Coach Devore challenged me to become a leader both on and off of the field, and although it was not always easy having so much pressure on me, I have been able to come in as a freshman and compete at the collegiate level right away.”

Nevins proved how well prepared she was for college by immediately finding success in the classroom, as she has maintained an impressive 4.0 GPA while majoring in English. As for the soccer aspect, well she proved how well prepared she was by starting immediately and earning Hawk of the Match (award given to Saint Joes’ player of the game) in the team’s first scrimmage of the season against Saint Francis. Not bad for a freshman.

Coming into her freshman season Nevins stated, “I did not expect much as a freshman, other than an opportunity to prove myself and the chance to do what I could to show my coaches that I deserved to be on the field.” Turns out she would end up exceeding her expectations as she later earned Hawk of the Match in the team’s 3-1 loss to the seventh best team in the country in West Virginia. She also finished the season with 2 assists, 6 shots, and 2 shots on goal, while starting every game that she played in.

While the season was abbreviated and frustrating, as Nevins had to sit out of three games due to contact tracing, she still understood how important this experience was and how beneficial it will be to her development as a player. It has given her the opportunity to prove to herself and others how she can compete on a very competitive team and impact the game at the highest level, despite just being a freshman because as she stated, “Once you step onto the field, age is truly just a number.”