MILTON, Mass. – Curry College freshman Samantha Borges (Somerset, Mass.) of the women's soccer team was recently highlighted by George Austin of South Coast Today. The piece focuses on Borges' transition from playing soccer in high school to playing at the college level.

Read the full piece below:

SOMERSET — The same type of talent, skills and hard work that helped Samantha Borges excel for the Somerset Berkley Regional High School girls' soccer team helped her to transition to the next level with the Curry College women's soccer team.

Curry coach Brigida Palatino said the speed of Borges is why she was so successful on the field in her first year of college soccer. She said the pace that Borges plays at on the field made it easy for her to adjust to college soccer. Even as a freshman, the other teams found out about that speed and was making sure she was marked in the games.

"She's really, really fast," Palatino said. "She's tenacious and she's good on the ball."

Borges, who is a Somerset resident, was the second leading scorer on the Curry team with six goals and three assists this past season from her forward position. She scored game-winning goals against Fitchburg State University and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Palatino said Borges has good technical skills.

"She does have a great mindset as a forward, has a powerful shot," Palatino said.

Palatino said she has seen Borges getting more and more confidence as she has played for Curry and is getting better at the art of finishing goals. She said Borges is not afraid to shoot the ball.

"She's just so fun to watch," Palatino said. "She's so explosive. She has a great soccer mind."

Palatino said Borges played really well this past season, especially for a first-year college player. Borges started every game. Palatino said she did not take her off the field very often.

"It was really a lot of fun," Borges said. "We had a lot of good games. It was a really good experience for my first year."

Borges said one of the soccer highlights for her this past season was a tie against Commonwealth Coast Conference second seed Gordon College in double overtime on Senior Night. She said there was lightning during the game that caused the game to be postponed until the next day. Between playing in the game before it was delayed because of lightning and then playing in the game the next day, Borges said she played about 100 minutes of soccer.

This year's Somerset Berkley Regional High School girls' soccer team surprised Borges by showing up to one of her games to watch her play for Curry against the University of New England.

"It was really good to see that they cared about what I was doing and wanted to see what college soccer was," Borges said of the SBRHS players and coaches who came to the game.

Borges also has attended a couple of SBRHS games this year against Case and the first round Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament game against Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School.

Borges said playing for the SBRHS girls' soccer team, club soccer, and pickup soccer games is what helped prepare her for college soccer. For SBRHS last year, Borges had 20 goals in the regular season and three goals in the state tournament as she led the Lady Blue Raiders to the semi-final of the Division 2 South bracket. She also was a South Coast Conference All-Star.

Borges said college soccer is faster paced than high school soccer and said it is a tougher game.

 "Everyone who is there knows what they are doing," Borges said of the college players. "They want it. It's kind of a different game."

Borges said it took some time for her to get used to, but it has not been difficult for her to handle the commitment of a college sport and a college course load. She said she had gotten used to juggling multiple sports and school in the past. She is majoring in public health and wellness at Curry.

Palatino also seems to be just as impressed with Borges off the field, as well.

"She's a great teammate, a great person who really cares about other people," Palatino said. "She has a lot of energy."

Curry had an 8-9-2 overall record and 1-5-2 record in the Commonwealth Coast Conference this past season.

"I think everyone's goal is to win a conference championship and I think in the next three years, it's very, very possible," Borges said.

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