Soccer: Marin FC teams set to start their USL campaigns
Many of Marin’s top college soccer players are heading home for the summer and will be joining forces on Marin FC’s pre-professional teams – the Legends and the Siren.
“We’re trying to provide a competitive environment where these kids can train and compete at a high level over the summer so they can be prepared for their next college season,” Siren coach Tyler Gottschalk said.
The Siren plays in the United Soccer League W (USL W) while the men’s Legends team competes in the USL 2. Teams in the leagues are primarily made up of players from top college programs.
Both teams are set to kick off their campaigns with road games this weekend. The Siren visit the Stockton Cargo for a 7 p.m. Saturday game and the Legends open with a road game against Davis Legacy SC.
The Legends first home game is set for May 29 against Almaden FC at Marin Catholic High. The Siren play its home opener on June 5 against the California Storm at College of Marin.
“It’s great to compete against teams playing at that level,” Gottschalk said. “It will only make our kids better but it’s definitely a big, big challenge.”
Some of the top players to come from the county in recent years are on the Siren roster for this season including the past two MCAL players of the year in Tam senior Maren Jones and former Branson School standout Patricia DePalma.
DePalma is coming off her freshman campaign for Pomona Pitzer. She started 17 games in goal and posted eight shutouts to guide the Sagehens to a 16-1-3 record. DePalma was named a West Region first-team selection and is one of three Marin-based players on the Pomona Pitzer roster along with Eliana Prosnitz (Branson) and Elodie Mortimar (Marin Academy). MA senior Imogen Jenkyn is set to join them next season.
Former Redwood standout Briana Salvetti is also on the Siren roster this season coming off a 10-goal season during her sophomore season for St. Mary’s College. Salvetti, who was named to the All-West Coast Conference second team, scored braces against Eastern Washington, Sacramento State, and San Diego and also found the back of the net against Stanford.
Lena Sugrue (Branson) helped guide her Tufts team to the Division III semifinals last year. Noelle Namba (Branson) started 15 games in the midfield for Vassar College. Sydney Boyd (Tam) scored 10 goals and had six assists for UC Santa Cruz last year.
A couple high-school players about to make the leap to college are on the roster including Tam’s Jones and Branson’s Caitlin Capitolo – who are set to join Sugrue at Tufts next year. MA junior Raya Leikin and Branson freshman Julia Myerberg are also on the roster.
The Legends feature several players who starred at top high school programs like Marin Academy, Terra Linda, and Tam.
The Wildcats are represented by Aiden Aley, Ethan Carr, Tyler Huck, Alex Hayward, and Malcolm Zalayet, who is set to start his collegiate career at Cal next season.
Zalayet put together a remarkable campaign for MA this past season with 41 goals and 10 assists in 24 games.
The TL contingent is led by UC Davis defensive midfielder Jason Hsu, plus Chris Maldonaldo and Elvin Maldonado from the 2022 MCAL, North Coast Section, and NorCal championship team.
Chris Maldonaldo was named to the WCC all-freshman team after appearing in 16 games for the University of San Francisco this past season.
Former Tam standout Trevor Islam, the 2022 MCAL player of the year, is also on the team. Islam plays club soccer at Stanford.