Story and photo by Mari Kneisel/COC Sports Information 

College of the Canyons all-conference selection Sascha Marcellin will continue her soccer career at Texas A&M University Texarkana after committing to the Eagles program for the 2023 season.

TAMUT is a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) program located in Texarkana, TX. The Eagles compete in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC)

Canyons women’s soccer head coach Justin Lundin will now entrust Marcelin to TAMUT head coach Don Koontz who led the Eagles to a 17-2-1 overall record, undefeated conference mark (10-0-1) and appearance in the NAIA Women’s Soccer Championship tournament a season ago.

Marcellin was a versatile player in her two seasons at Canyons, spending the majority of her time on COC’s back line, but also stepping into an offensive role late in the 2022 season.

“Sascha came in and had some key moments for us in big games,” said Lundin. “She made some huge plays that kept us in the running for conference championship.”

Marcellin’s intrinsic motivation, along with her sheer strength as a player, added fire to a tough second half of the season.

Lundin recalls a point late in the season when he surveyed his team, which by the point was plagued with injuries. “I made eye contact with Sascha, she was taped shoulder to ankle, but all she said was ‘I’m good, just put me in.'”

Her five goals, two of which were game-winners, helped Marcellin earn All-Western State Conference (WSC), South Division First-Team honors as a sophomore. She was also an All-WSC, South Second-Team selection as a freshman in 2021.

“I’m going to take all the things I learned at College of the Canyons about how to train and how to show up to training with me to Texarkana,” said Marcellin.

Stay up to date on all this season’s action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.