For the last four years, there has been a constant within the Marquette women’s soccer program: Madison Burrier.
Burrier said she first began playing soccer when she was five, but it wasn’t until she got to high school that she knew she wanted to compete one day at the collegiate level.
“I would say freshman year is when I really got interested in it and started the whole recruiting process,” Burrier said. “I started to see interest from schools and started to see the potential of being able to play in college.”
During her four-year career at Jerome High School, Burrier helped lead her team to four conference and two district championships. Additionally, she was a captain of the Ohio Premier Soccer Club in the Elite Club National League under coach William Gage.
“My high school team was really awesome, it was fun to play with people at my school, it was kind of more a social thing in high school, but my club team was kind of where things were really serious,” Burrier said. “My final year we made it to the national championship which I think definitely helped coming into Marquette, playing against some of the best girls in the nation was really cool.”
During Burrier’s first season at Marquette, when she was named one of the team’s captains, she earned starts in 14 of the team’s 18 games. In her sophomore season, Burrier appeared in 13 matches and made eight starts, including the final five matches of the year at center back.
Teammates Elaina Eckert and Elsi Twombly said they describe Burrier as someone who is caring, selfless and compassionate.
“She is just a really caring person and you can notice that right away when you meet her,” Eckert said. “Leader would be another, and she shows that through with being selfless, she puts the needs of the team first. You see through her that she is one of those people that can connect with people.”
Twombly said Burrier cares about all her teammates and is passionate about soccer.
Twombly, who started playing with Burrier last season, said Burrier helped the first-years come in and feel included right away.
“She was always there to answer any questions, very welcoming and did not make us feel dumb,” Twombly said. “She didn’t make us feel like there were classes, like we were all equal.”
Eckert said she has seen Burrier grow both on and off the field since her first year.
“I think her comfortability is her biggest improvement, seeing her throughout the years being comfortable and more confident,” Eckert said. “Even this year we all felt so comfortable having her back there we just really trusted her presence, even from the standpoint of being loud on the field we have seen that grow over the years.”
Burrier said while she is unsure about her future on the pitch, she is planning on getting her masters in either sports management or sports administration.
She plans on getting her Master’s regardless, once she figures out the logistics of playing another year.
While the Golden Eagles’ season has been over for a few weeks, Burrier said she is still overjoyed with the season and knows this team will have a strong family bond forever.
“This was by far my favorite season of soccer at Marquette and it was just because of the team, the culture and the coaches that we had. It was just a team that everyone had each others back and you can feel that whether your on or off the field,” Burrier said. “Having that sense of family was so awesome and something I was very grateful for. Being able to have a winning season our senior year was something that meant so much to our class and to our team.”
This article was written by Kelly Reilly. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @kellyreillyy.
