Syracuse midfielder finds new home after move from Germany
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (BVM) 鈥� Pauline Machtens is a star player of the Syracuse women’s soccer team. The freshman midfielder moved to the United States from Germany where she played for the U-18 team at Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. 鈥淧layed,鈥� however, might be a stretch. Oftentimes, she wasn鈥檛 even selected for the matchday squad. Not even getting the chance to suit up for games alongside her teammates.听听听
鈥淲atching my teammates playing soccer while I was just sitting on the stands was really hard sometimes,鈥� Machtens said. 鈥淵ou knew you were just practicing for nothing, that was the hardest thing鈥f you can鈥檛 compete with the other people, you get really unconfident. That was one of the hardest seasons, or years, I鈥檝e ever experienced.鈥澨�
听At Syracuse she found a coach, in head coach Nicky Adams, that doesn鈥檛 just stoke that passion, but depends on it.听听
鈥淭he thing I love about internationals is that they bring just a passion for the game,鈥� Adams said, stretching out the 鈥渙鈥� in love. 鈥淪occer is everything to [Pauline] and winning matters.鈥�
That passion is paired with a quality she developed during her time in Bayer Leverkusen鈥檚 academy. Youth teams in Europe are known for prioritizing technique over conditioning as teams in America do. Something which her teammates noticed right away.听听
鈥沦辞肠肠别谤-飞颈蝉别, she is just very, very talented,鈥� Lysianne Proulx, the team鈥檚 captain, said. 鈥淪he is very technical and has very good vision of the game and I think those characteristics speak a lot of where she鈥檚 from.鈥澨�
Machtens鈥� technique means that the ball always does what she intends for it to do. When the ball arrives to her, it settles at her feet. When she plays a teammate into space, they don鈥檛 have to break their stride. When she鈥檚 pressed, she keeps the ball. In the midst of the frenetic chaos in the midfield she always controls the most important aspect of the game, the ball.听听
Her technique is paired with a field vision that is uncommon for a player her age. Meaning, Machtens doesn鈥檛 just know how to do everything on the pitch, she knows what she should do. Machtens has the ability in her feet to make the ball go where she wants and the ability in her head to know where that spot even is. She is that rare midfielder who seems to float above the game, suspended on a cloud that whips about the pitch, leaving only the barest of traces on the grass and the slightest droplets of dew on her boots.听听
The Orange鈥檚 season didn鈥檛 pan out as hoped; ending on an eleven-game losing streak, in part, because of injuries and, in part, because the ACC is so competitive. Despite the poor results on the field, Macthens considers her time in America rewarding.
鈥淚t鈥檚 everything I wanted it to be when I came here,鈥� Pauline Machtens said. 鈥淚鈥檓 so happy this happened to me.鈥澨�
With Machtens鈥� enthusiasm and her talent both her and Syracuse have reason to feel optimistic about the team鈥檚 future. Syracuse gained a player that offers the team both technical and mental improvements, raising both the floor and the ceiling of the team. The first by raising the baseline level of quality in the team, allowing for a more regular commitment to the complex and effective patterns of play that a team can only develop with talented players in its roster. The second because Machtens is young and a star that can, and almost certainly will, improve. But, Machtens gained something equally valuable and ephemeral鈥攍ove. Love for the game that she risked losing back home in Leverkusen.听听听
Let her tell you in her own words.听
鈥淚 got the fun back,鈥� Machtens said.听
