Kasey Murphy understood full well what awaited her at Saint Peter’s College. If the Tottenville midfielder chose to attend the New Jersey school she would complete a dream of playing Division I soccer, get a great education and the chance to turn around the program with her best friend. But she still wasn’t 100 percent certain that was the place for her until she went on an official visit a few weeks ago.
“I was a little hesitant,” Murphy said. “I wasn’t really ready to decide yet because I wasn’t sure where I would be going. Once I met the girls and everyone on the team it really set everything off for me.”
An Rong XU
Tottenville's Kasey Murphy is looking forward to getting a chance to turn around the program at St. Peter's College.
That’s why she verbally committed to Saint Peter’s and first-year coach Brett Sarsfield and will sign a National Letter of Intent Thursday. Murphy picked the Gamehens over Bridgeport and American International after Sarfield got in touch with Heather Barclay, her Staten Island Storm club coach, about her and Petrides star Amanda Fieldstein in January. She will be going on partial athletic and academic scholarships.
“She didn’t want to push me too much, but we have been best friends for so long and we would both love to go to school together and we are,” Murphy said of Feldstein. “We are both really excited.”
She joins a Saint Peter's program that finished 3-16 overall last season and 0-9 in the MAAC conference with a team that had just one senior. Murphy, an All-City honorable mention selection by The Post, said she was impressed with the skill of the girls coming back and feels Sarfield’s possession style fits the way she wants to play. She has proven to be nothing but a winning player during her time at Tottenville.
“She is like a jack of all trades,” Pirates coach George Kaplan said. “She will do whatever it takes to win. She won’t sulk and be one of those drama queens. She is a worker, probably the hardest working player on the Tottenville team. She will be an asset to the Saint Peter’s team.”
He joked that Murphy would even play goal if he asked her, but noted that when he has played her up she has proven she can score and is the team’s go-to shooter for penalty kicks. Murphy had three goals and an assist last season, but her real calling was as a defensive midfielder. She could impose her will on a game with her toughness and speed. She was never afraid to put her body on the line to make a play and was the starting point for much of Tottenville’s offense.
“She isn’t the biggest player on the field, but she is probably one of the fastest,” Kaplan said. “She has the biggest heart.”
Committing to Saint Peter’s puts a fitting cap to a great season on the field for Murphy, who missed five league games because of an a knee injury. Tottenville went 13-3 and won Staten Island A before losing to Beacon in the PSAL Class A final in its best season since 2006.
“It’s pretty much exactly what I was hoping for,” Murphy said. “I had a few negative thoughts about college, because I wasn’t sure everything was going to click together. Then finally at the end, everything did. I’m very happy.”
jstaszewski@nypost.com
heather barclay, possession style, george kaplan, maac conference, academic scholarships, storm club, island storm, club coach, coach george, rsquo, jack of all trades, petrides, great education, national letter of intent, feldstein, s college, saint peter, sarsfield, sulk, rong
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