Elizabeth Hug ’25
Senior Natalie Magnotta ’24 first got involved in sports at the young age of five. Her parents signed her up for recreational league soccer, and she was assigned jersey number nine. Magnotta soon joined a club team when she was ten and is currently still a player on Penn Fusion ECNL, for which she serves as captain. Additionally, she is a captain on the EA’s Girls Varsity Soccer team along with her co-captains Lainey McGonagle ’24 and Grace McHugh ’24. With countless hours of hard work, Magnotta is ranked ninth among all girls in Pennsylvania in the class of 2024, first at the center-back position, and has also achieved All-Conference for club play three times. With all these accolades to her name, she plans to continue her academic and athletic career at Pennsylvania State University starting in the fall of 2024.
Magnotta has attended EA since the fourth grade and first met the Girls Varsity Soccer Head Coach, Andy Fraggos as a rising sixth grader when she joined the high school team for some summer pickup games. Being positioned as a center-back was nerve-wracking for Magnotta as a freshman on a varsity team. Since then, Magnotta has grown more comfortable leading her teammates on the field. She says, “As a center-back, you have to lead and talk to everyone, and I was so scared to yell at the seniors.” However, Magnotta reflects that the position really helped her to develop her communication skills.
When leading a soccer team, one has to be smart in the moment, and Magnotta has shown that she is more than competent. Coach Fraggos comments, “She’s a very calm, very composed kid. And that’s how she carries herself. Very confident as well.” Magnotta’s ability to communicate with the team and her tranquil mentality are two key factors in the team’s success. According to Fraggos, Magnotta’s greatest talent is her intelligence: “She has a very high soccer IQ, meaning she’s very intelligent on the field. She’s able to see the game a little bit earlier than other players, which helps us to understand what’s going on.”
In regards to Magnotta’s high field IQ, Coach Fraggos adds, “Natalie is someone that I lean on and I’ve leaned on her since she was a freshman here in our program.” Since joining the Upper School, Magnotta’s presence on the soccer field has made an impact on the team as a result of her talent and approachable personality. McHugh comments, “Natalie is always really positive and knows the right thing to say. She holds you accountable and really knows the game so well, so she’s a big leader on our team.” Being serene and precise with the ball is essential to setting a positive example for her teammates.
Magnotta not only awes and motivates her coaches but also inspires her teammates. Maya Bright ’25, having played soccer with Magnotta for three years, states, “She’s inspiring because she’s so good, and playing with her is so fun. It’s like a blessing.” Magnotta has such a passion for the game that she wants to carry on the legacy of her past captains and continue developing real connections with her teammates. Magonotta explains, “They [Magnotta’s previous captains] were not afraid to get on you, which I really liked because I don’t like when people are soft just because they’re worried of what other people are going to think. I know that I have the trust of everyone else on the team, so I can get on them a little bit.”
Photo Courtesy fo James Quinn Sports
During Magnotta’s junior year season, she anchored a defense at the center-back position that allowed only 12 goals in 21 games, according to PA Prep Live. Ever since she was young, Magnotta has preferred defense over offense. She explains, “A lot of people like offense and the glory of scoring goals because you get a lot more recognition. But I was always a lot taller than other people, and I was always very vocal too. So center-back is a good position where you can lead everyone on the field because you can see everyone that is in front of you, which is another thing I like: having the whole entire field in front of me.” Her teammates have been greatly impacted by her success at center-back. McHugh remarks, “She sees the whole field and tells everyone where they should be and keeps everyone in line and in check.”
The EA team has a great year ahead of them, having only played for a month so far. With the players possessing great amounts of talent, Magnotta claims, “I think it’s going to be our best season in the four years that I’ve been here because we have a lot of returners and really good new players too. I definitely think that we could win PAISSAs this year and the Inter-Ac.” The bar has been set high as EA finished second in both of these competitions the previous season. Magnotta intends to steer the group and help them perform to the best of their abilities by giving the game her all on the field.
While exploring her option for Division 1 soccer, Magnotta fell in love with Penn State’s campus. Magnotta’s family had a large Penn State contingent; therefore, maintaining the tradition was significant. She plans to continue wearing her favorite jersey, number nine, on Penn State’s soccer fields. Additionally, she admires the Penn State coaches because they’ve been there for three decades, and she believes their team possesses a competitive and successful nature. Magnotta states, “I knew that I would have all the resources there that I needed to be able to develop and improve as a player. I was really excited to be at a school that cared about soccer that much and athletics in general because Penn State is such a big community.”