Marchini is much more than a soccer player
Montville — Attending UConn next year will be closer for Montville High School senior Rachel Marchini than the frequent trips she makes to Farmington for her premier league soccer practices.
But it actually took Marchini a journey to the San Diego area this summer for a national tournament to realize that Connecticut is where she wanted to be.
“At first when I started looking at colleges, I didn't want to look at UConn,” said Marchini, a Class M all-state selection last year at Montville. “I didn't think I was going to stay in state. I ended up 45 minutes from my house. Now that I'm going, I'm excited. It's a great school. I'm going to be in the honors program.”
Marchini, who is ranked first in her class, was originally interested in an Ivy League program that didn't work out, she said. She then drew interest from Providence College, as well as UConn, while playing with the Farmington Sports Arena Football Club at the ECNL national playoffs this summer in California.
Marchini, who is 5-foot-4, yet an aggressive center midfielder at Montville and center back for her club team, announced her verbal commitment to play for the Huskies on Twitter on July 6.
There, she will join her sister Hanna, who will be a sophomore at UConn. Rachel's twin brother Nick also will likely head to UConn, Rachel said, reuniting the three siblings.
UConn, currently ranked 10th in the nation, was 19-4 last season with an American Athletic Conference regular season title and an NCAA tournament appearance. The Huskies, under longtime coach Len Tsantiris, have made four appearances in the national championship game.
Because she is first in her class, Marchini will receive an academic scholarship from UConn in the form of full tuition, while she will also receive a partial athletic scholarship with the opportunity for more as her career progresses.
Montville coach April Parady-Walter joked Thursday, the first day of practice for Connecticut high school sports, that Marchini is “our underachiever.”
“There are so many facets to her,” Parady-Walter said. “You think she's just a jock, but she's No. 1 in her class. She does selfless things. She's well-spoken; she has a goofy side, but she's well-spoken speaking to adults.
“She's always had the technical aspect of the game. But freshman-year Rachel to now, senior-year Rachel, she's gained maturity, leadership, poise. She's a natural athlete, but she's also a worker. That's part of it. When she sets her mind to something, she doesn't stop.”
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Montville began the first day of practice with a double-session Thursday on the high school's turf field, the opener stretching from 10 a.m.-noon and the second session from 4-6 p.m. As noon approached, the Indians were running — a lot — sprinting up and down the field along each 10-yard-line for starters.
The Indians, who were hit hard by injuries, finished 4-9-3 last year and did not qualify for the state tournament. They gained a lot of experience, however, and return the bulk of their roster.
That's Marchini's focus for now.
“I'm still going to mess up. I'm still going to learn,” said Marchini, 16, of trying to live up to what might be expected of a UConn soccer player. “That's next year. I'm still a senior in high school at Montville. I'm not going (to UConn) yet.”
Marchini said her strength is her ability to have the confidence she can win a ball, no matter who she's going against.
“I'm willing to go for it. I have a lot of energy,” Marchini said.
Parady-Walter seconds that.
“She's 5-4. She plays like she's 5-11,” the coach said. “Her best asset is her physicality … and 9 of 10 times she wins the ball. She plays much bigger than she actually is.”
Parady-Walter calls Montville's injuries a year ago, including a season-ending knee injury to Maddy Campbell, “crushing.”
“That took the wind out of our sail,” she said. “But we kind of rose to the occasion. We turned a negative into a positive. We got some freshmen in and we were able to try people at different positions.
“They try to wheel and deal (Thursday, to get out of running), but they all know what we have. I told them, we're our own worst enemy. It's our battle to win and it's our battle to lose. This year's motto is 'relentless.'”
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Marchini, the president of Montville's senior class, is just as relentless in the other details of her life as she is in soccer.
Her schoolwork: she is taking advanced placement courses in biology, calculus and psychology (but only regular old honors English because she finds English “too subjective.”) She plans to major in biomedical engineering at UConn and include some courses in pre-med in case she decides to go that route.
Her selflessness, as Parady-Walter previously referenced: As a freshman, Marchini donated her hair and raised more than $5,000 for the St. Baldrick's Foundation, which is committed to conquering childhood cancer. Her brother shaved his head, as well, so Marchini wouldn't have to be the only one at school with no hair.
Her dedication: Marchini worked two jobs this summer, in addition to playing soccer, one at Bob's Stores and one at Wayback Burgers.
“My mom (Jill) always told me to get out there. If you felt like doing something, just do it,” Marchini said. “… Now she doesn't have to tell me to get serious with my homework anymore. I would just do it in the car on the way to and from (Farmington), so when I got home I could sleep and relax come 9 o'clock … except when I have AP classes, then I stay up until 11 because I procrastinated.”
Overall, she's proud to represent Montville, which she points out geographically by telling people it's near Mohegan Sun.
“We are a small school. I know every kid in my grade,” she said. “But I like seeing someone in the hall and knowing who they are. We have good kids and good teachers, good athletes.”
v.fulkerson@theday.com
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