When Miyuki Schoyen graduates from Parkside High School in the spring, she’ll be leaving behind more than just a group of friends.
Preparing to make the jump to the college level, the senior has left a mark on athletics throughout the Shore.
For the past four years, Schoyen has secured the goal for the Rams’ varsity girls soccer team, racking up multiple All-Conference First Team awards and leading Parkside to an 11-2 record her senior year.
Her talent on the field paired with her leadership skills havemade Schoyen a force to be reckoned with in the eyes of her head coach, Chris Jackson. And it’s why he wasn’t surprised to see his star player sign her national letter of intent to play Division I soccer at Drexel University.
“She’s come in from Day 1 and worked so hard to put herself in a position to be able to move on to the next level,” Jackson said. “To be able to play for that university, that’s amazing. She’s shown the other girls that it is possible.”
On Wednesday afternoon, the Parkside goalie made her commitment to Drexel official, saying it was exciting to see her years of training and experience finally pay off.
Having played the sport since she was 9, Schoyen said she never intended to play in goal, but with a chance to compete for a starting spot her first year in college, the senior said she’s happy her journey went the way it did.
“I’m glad I had all the support from my family, my coaches and my friends,” Schoyen said. “It’s official now, so it’s kind of a relief. It’s a lot of commitment … it was hard, but it was all worth it.”
In 2017, opponents managed to score just 10 goals against her throughout the season. With Schoyen in the cage, Parkside recorded five shutouts with a 0.76 goals-against average.
Schoyen fell in love with Drexel as soon as she walked onto the campus.
Going from the small cityof Salisbury to the heart of Philadelphia, Schoyen knows college life will be a lot different from her days on the Eastern Shore.
“I love the city, so Drexel’s perfect,” Schoyen said. “They also have a really good goalkeepers coach, so I think I can learn a lot from her. The coaching staff is so nice, and the team was so friendly to me. It was just a good environment and atmosphere that I liked.”
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With Drexel’s starting goalie from 2017 graduating before Schoyen arrives, the Parkside senior is expected to compete for the job, knowing she’ll need to be near perfect if she wants to be in the goal for a Division I program.
“I’m looking forward to the competition,” Schoyen said. “I just want to improve a lot. Because I have such a good goalkeepers coach, I see me taking a lot of her advice and improving myself as a goalkeeper. I’m ready for all the training, and I’m ready to compete.”
But the Parkside goalie wasn’t the only one to announce her plans to move on to the next level.
Her teammate, senior Kara Osborne, also expressed her intentions to play in college, althoughshe won’t be joining Schoyen on the soccer field.
Osborne plays multiple sports at Parkside, and said she will make the five-minute trip up the road to compete for the track team at Salisbury University.
Osborne was coached in high school by her brothers Zak and Blair, who also attended Salisbury. Osborne said she wanted to continue the family tradition and help the Sea Gulls compete for a championship.
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“I’m excited,” Osborne said. “I originally wanted to go away, but it’s just really convenient here, and Salisbury had the major that I wanted. That’s one of the big reasons I picked there.”
With Zak Osborne participating in track and football at Salisbury and latercoaching Parkside’s track team, Kara Osborne asked her brother what to expect from the athletic programs.
His answer:Be prepared to compete with the best.
Despite being a Division III institution, Salisbury's athletics program has had 20 national champion teams, plus18 individual national winners who competed in track and field.
“D3 doesn’t mean anything,” Kara Osborne said. “It’s still the same. You’re still going to have other teams that are good. Academically, you still have to stay on top of everything, and that has a lot to do with being a student-athlete.”
Throughout high school, Kara Osborne’s primary event has been the pole vault, with the senior hoping to elevate her craft, literally and figuratively, once she gets to Salisbury.
According to the Next College Student Athlete, a recruiting profile website for high school athletes, Kara Osborne’s top vault is 9 feet 6 inches — something she wants to increase in her first year with the Gulls.
“I’m really excited to go out there, try my best and see what comes,” Osborne said. “(Salisbury’s) pole vault coach, Chris Okerblom, he helped me at Parkside, so I’m excited to work with him again.”
After the four years of track ahead of her, Osborne said she may continue to follow in her brother’s footsteps once college is over, possibly coming back and coaching track at Parkside.
“I’ll definitely come back and visit and help out however I can,” Osborne said. “I could see myself working with (Zak and Blair) and having it be like a family thing.”
As both begin to close out their high school careers, the two athletes said they can’t wait to finally take the next step.
Though Schoyen will make the trip to the city, while Osborne stays local, the two agreed that it doesn’t matter where they end up — it’s about the work and passion they put in that gets them to their destination.
“I loved high school, and it was so much fun playing with your best friends — playing with the kids you’ve played with all your life,” Schoyen said. “The experience has made me really enjoy it all.”
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