Women’s Soccer: Viola inducted into Stony Brook University HOF
Since she knew the majority of the induction class, Marisa Viola attended last year’s induction ceremony for the Stony Brook University Department of Athletics Hall of Fame as an interested spectator. It gave her an insight into what it was all about.
“I just thought what a cool achievement and what an honor it was to be put on that pedestal,” she said.
It’s one thing to watch the event, yet quite another to be one of the inductees. Viola got to appreciate that firsthand Friday when she was among the latest class of Stony Brook inductees into the school’s hall of fame.
Viola had a great athletic career at Mattituck High School, but she may have had an even better college career. Her name is dotted throughout the Stony Brook women’s soccer record book. Now she has cemented a place for herself in the school’s athletic hall of fame.
“I was pretty sure I was hyperventilating when I walked up to give my speech,” Viola told The Suffolk Times in a phone interview Tuesday night as she headed home to Maryland, where she is an associate director of performance and education for an athletic equipment company.
The former goalkeeper compiled the lowest goals-against average (0.72) in school history before graduating with two degrees in 2010. She posted a school-record 10 shutouts in 2007. Eight of those shutouts came in a scoreless streak that ran over 863 minutes, the seventh-longest streak in NCAA Division I history.
The America East All-Conference first team selection and Goalkeeper of the Year in 2008 earned a spot on the United Soccer Coaches All-Northeast Region second team after leading the conference with an .858 save percentage. She also earned All-Region second team honors in 2007 after starting all 18 games.
Asked for her reaction to this latest honor, Viola said: “I think if I had to sum it up into a couple of words, pride would definitely be one of them. Legacy would be one of them and teamwork, for sure. Just because you spend four years at a university and you make an impact that you do and people kind of remember it. You work day in and day out and it’s kind of a dream come true. And it’s also a blessing.”
Photo caption: Marisa Viola, who was inducted Friday into the Stony Brook University Department of Athletics Hall of Fame, finished her collegiate soccer career with the lowest goals-against average (0.72) in school history. (Credit: Stony Brook University Department of Athletics courtesy photo)
