Boyce makes seamless transition

With graduation taking its key scoring threats from the previous season, Charleston Southern needed a new offensive go-to person this season to fill the void and Marky Boyce (Woodbridge ‘07) seemed to fit the profile.

Even though she had spent the first two seasons in college playing midfield, she’d always had a knack for scoring goals.

But Buccaneer head coach Eric Terrill wanted to see first whether Boyce could make the switch.

So at a mini-tournament during the spring at Winthrop University, Terrill moved Boyce up front to see what she could do.

When Boyce scored 13 goals in six games, Terrill quickly had his answer.

“She shredded everyone,” Terrill said.

Boyce’s offensive exploits carried over into the fall and the result earned her Big South Conference Player of the Year honors. In recording the second-highest point total in school history, Boyce finished with 35 points on 14 goals and seven assists.

“I was pretty shocked doing so well,” Boyce said. “The hard work paid off.”

Boyce was a last-minute addition to Charleston Southern’s team.

Although she was an accomplished player in high school, where her senior season she earned all-Cardinal District and all-Northwest Region honors after totaling 11 goals and 11 assists, she did not have many college suitors.

Part of that, Boyce said, was she wasn’t sure if she wanted to play soccer in college. But Terrill also said Division I schools backed off because at the time she had not academically qualified for admission.

“That put her on the backburner,” Terrill said.

Charleston Southern, though, was willing to take a chance after Terrill stumbled upon Boyce during the spring of Boyce’s senior year when he came up to see Boyce’s Woodbridge teammate and CSU recruit Emily Danchak (Woodbridge ’07) in a game against Forest Park.

He was impressed with Boyce and began asking questions about her.

Terrill checked with Danchak and Danchak highly recommended Boyce.

“We got lucky,” Terrill said. “We were at the right place at the right time.”

Boyce also talked to Danchak about CSU. The two had known each other since they were five. If Danchak was good with CSU, Boyce was fine with it as well.

“I trusted her opinion,” Boyce said.

Terrill said it went down to the wire, but Boyce got eligible to play her freshman year and was an instant success, finishing fourth in the Big South in goals scored (10) and earning first-team all-conference honors.

Boyce’s sophomore season was slowed by a knee injury, but it was clear by the time she played in the spring tournament down at Winthrop that she was fully recovered.

“I really do see it as a blessing,” Boyce said. “Coach [Terrill] decided to reach out to me so at the last second, it changed the whole outlook. It’s good that I waited.”

Danchak, a captain for this year’s team, started 18 games for the Buccaneers and totaled two assists as a defender.

Jackie Cozza (Gar-Field ’06) was named to the first-team all-Big South team. A senior defender at Radford, Cozza was a four-year starter for the Highlanders

Maryellen Derenda (Osbourn Park ‘08) was named to the all-Big South Tournament team. The sophomore midfielder from Radford finished with three goals on the season.

C.J. Sapong (Forest Park ‘07) was named to the all-Colonial Athletic Association team for the third straight season. A junior midfielder at James Madison University, Sapong finished with 10 goals and eight assists. He led the CAA in points (1.75 per game) and goals average (0.82).

Ernesto Marquez (Woodbridge ’05) was selected to the all-CAA third team. The George Mason University junior forward finished second on the team in scoring with 11 points (four goals, three assists).

FOOTBALL
Jay Kirland (Woodbridge ‘06) and Michael Vann (Potomac ’05) were named to the USA South Conference second team.

Kirland, a senior linebacker at Christopher Newport, finished second on the team and seventh in the league in tackles with 76

Vann, a senior running back at Ferrum, finished seventh in the league in rushing with 662 yards. He also scored seven touchdowns.

Sports editor David Fawcett can be reached at 703-878-8052 or at dfawcett@insidenova.com