During Austin Marich's senior year of high school at Northwestern, he didn't know where, or even if, he was going to play college soccer. Marich had a plethora of college offers, including Division I, before he sustained a torn ACL.

His club team, FC Revolution, participated in college showcase tournaments. Some schools remained recruiting him, and others gave him a walk on option.

"It was tough because I had other opportunities at Division I levels," said Marich. "That's what I always wanted to do. The timing of it set me back a lot. Misericordia and Albright I kept high on my list. The club team that I played for was based out of Reading, so it was a connection there. I got along with the coach and knew a couple of kids that played here already."

Albright had to be happy with his commitment. Marich started 15 of 18 games his freshman season in 2011. The only reason he didn't start all 18 was a nagging hamstring injury. The center back also played a game with a cast due to a broken hand.

"It was awesome to come in and contribute right away," noted Marich. "We didn't have the best season but they were all very accepting having a freshman come in and make a difference."

Marich didn't just start as a freshman, he was put at the heart of the defense. And he made it a point to give it all he had, and play through injury to help his team win.

"Once you get to conference games in college, it's like a whole different world," added Marich. "It's really intense and it's really all or nothing. You sacrifice your body to not give up a goal, especially playing in the back. You just throw your body in front of the ball."

Albright finished 7-11 in 2011. Playing in a tough conference with a bunch of underclassmen playing is always a tough task. But coming into a new year, Marich has higher expectations for his team.

"This whole area in Pennsylvania is like a soccer powerhouse," Marich stated. "One of the reasons I came to Albright was knowing you had the chance to play Messiah every year, who is contending for national championships. You're able to play good teams and see where you are at in comparison.

"Our goal is always to grab a playoff spot. We started off with a couple of tough losses. We're starting a lot of freshman, so it's kind of expected we have some inconsistency. We're hoping with conference games starting, it all comes together. We think we have a pretty good shot at it."

The economics major, who had a 3.7 overall GPA his freshman year, will be looking to go to law school after completing his undergraduate courses at Albright. Marich credits Northwestern for preparing him for college.

"Northwestern was a great school," Marich added. "Athletically it is probably one of the best schools in the conference. We just developed a winning mentality. We made playoffs my last three years there, so that kind of translates when you come to college, you're expecting to win all of the time."