The goals won’t come easy.
That’s what former women’s soccer standout Gina Santora (known by her maiden name, Monaco, during her playing career) had been told upon her arrival to the Buffalo State campus as a freshman determined to crack the Bengals’ starting roster.
One-hundred seventy-five points (76 G, 99 A), two SUNYAC scoring titles and two 50-point campaigns (’03, ’05) later, it’s safe to say scoring goals was far from Santora’s greatest obstacle.
The Niagara Falls native developed a knack for finding the back of the net during her high school days at Niagara Falls High School.
The more it became apparent to coaches that Santora could score, the more attention she garnered from colleges across the state.
It didn’t take long before Niagara University would come calling. Shortly after, so did Canisius and Hilbert colleges.
But for the education major, it was a no-brainer when it came to which school she wanted to take her talents both on the field and in the classroom to.
“My mom and dad really pushed hard for me to go to Buff State,” Santora said. “My dad always stressed the benefits of a SUNY degree. They both played a huge role in why I came (to Buffalo State) in the first place.”
That’s when Nick DeMarsh, who was just entering his first season as head coach of the women’s soccer program told her scoring goals wouldn’t come as easily in college as they did during high school.
“I thought she’d be in for a rude awakening when she got to college,” he said. “It’s a big step up to the college level, and high school accolades don’t always translate at the next level.”
Santora would use those words as motivation throughout her career as a Bengal, and when the first game arrived against Hilbert, she began her quest to prove DeMarsh wrong, scoring the first of many goals that were set to follow.
“(Scoring goals) just came natural to me,” Santora said. “Every time I took the field my goal was to score as much as I possibly could and run over anyone who gets in my way.”
It’s that mindset that opened an array of doors for the dynamic forward.
The awards followed, too.
Santora was named to the All-SUNYAC team each of her four seasons at Buffalo State and received the Female Bengal Award following the ’03-’04 season as the school’s female athlete of the year.
In 2006, she was also awarded the prestigious Ruth Houston Award (most outstanding female athletics career), recognizing her career accomplishments.
Santora’s career as a Bengal was nothing short of spectacular. She currently holds six school records for goals scored in a single game (6), season (25) and career (76) as well as most points in a game (14), season (53) and career (175).
She is the only female to score 50 or more points in a single season in the program’s 30-year history, accomplishing the feat twice (53 in ’03 and 50 in ’05) while notching nearly twice as many points throughout her career (175) than the next closest mark (89).
Santora attributes her accomplishments as a Bengal to many things, but said none had more of an impact on her than DeMarsh.
“Coach Nick was such a great coach,” she said. “He opened the soccer world to me and helped set my goals. He told me the areas of my game I needed to improve even when I didn’t think there were any and gave me the all the tools I needed to do so.”
Santora’s career accomplishments will come full circle this Saturday when she is set to become one of the five former athletes and personnel to be enshrined within the 175-member Buffalo State Athletics Hall of Fame during a ceremony as part of the school’s Homecoming Weekend.
DeMarsh, who will be the one presenting Santora with her Hall of Fame award during the ceremony, had equally high praises for his former star captain.
“Gina symbolizes everything a Buffalo State soccer athlete should,” he said. “She played with a great combination of both talent and work ethic. It is such an honor to know she’s being inducted into the Hall of Fame. That’s where Gina belongs.”
Just five years removed from obtaining her degree at Buffalo State, Santora — who now lives outside of Syracuse with her husband, Greg, and young daughter, Liliana — said it doesn’t get much better than being inducted into a hall of fame.
“It justifies all the hard work I’ve ever done,” she said. “It’s so awesome to be able to have my name and face on a plaque in the Buff State Hall of Fame where my kids can go and say ‘Wow, Mom did this!'”
“It’s such an amazing feeling. I’m on cloud nine.”
Brandon Schlager can be reached by email at schlager.record@live.com.